M. Falret knew the case of a man who always felt disposed to cut his
throat when under the influence of spirits. No reasoning could induce
him to abstain from his favourite draught. The inevitable consequences
were pointed out to him; he was reasoned with, and threatened with
confinement in a mad-house; but nothing had the desired effect. One
Sunday evening, after having drunk several glasses of spirits, although
not sufficient to produce complete inebriation, he stabbed himself to
the heart, and died in a few minutes.
Incurable indigestion and organic disease of the liver are very
commonly met with in habitual drunkards. In such persons, the
constitution of the mind appears to undergo a complete change. At first
it may not be perceptible, and the patient may not be conscious of it
himself, but the mental disease will, sooner or later, unequivocally
evince itself.
In such cases, the medical man has fearful odds to contend against.
A young man, who had become insane in consequence of long continued
intoxication, made violent efforts to maim himself, and especially to
pull out his right eye, which appeared to give him great offence. Rest,
temperance, seclusion, the application of half a dozen leeches to the
temple, and a few doses of opening medicine, restored him, in about a
fortnight, to the full possession of his faculties.
Many cases of suicide, in those who have a natural predisposition to
it, arise from the brain sympathizing with the liver; nor can this
be a matter of surprise to any one who has felt the depression of
spirits incident to disease of that organ. So many cases have occurred
from this cause, that some writers, from not finding, on subsequent
dissection, any organic lesion of the brain, have referred it to
diseased viscera only. But as we find that the insanity ceases when the
liver is restored to health, there is no reason for supposing that the
mental alienation is, in these instances, any other than the effect of
disease of the brain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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