77. Mr. A. W., a manufacturer, 29 years of age, consults me for anxiety, a condition which has already plunged him into very unpleasant situations. His anxiety broke out in Tyrol the first time. He wanted to meet a certain party and asked his landlord for directions. The latter conducted him personally over the road, which was a very rough and badly neglected one. Suddenly the man saw in front of him some suspicious-looking persons. But he controlled himself, although he surmised they were tramps if not a gang of highwaymen. Next he saw a number of men on the hill hurrying in his direction. At that he broke into a run, and kept running as fast as he could. A shot rang out in the distance, intended for him.... He reached the valley, out of breath, and reported the occurrence to the officer. The latter shook his head and did not even care to question the landlord, who explained that he had merely conducted the gentleman through a short cut in the road which is also used by hunters. That short cut leads to the next broad highway. But A. insisted that all was not well and that an attempt had been made to hold him up. The officer said that in his 30-year experience such a thing had never happened in that locality. But A. remained unconvinced and to this day he believes that he had narrowly escaped a hold-up. That might be thought possibly true if the occurrence stood alone. But he had very many such experiences. During a journey through Sweden he saw the hotel proprietor talk in subdued tones in Swedish with a number of guests who thereupon stared at him queerly. There was no key to his room and the room could not be locked. He could not sleep and kept peering through the window. Then he saw a number of queer fellows foregathering in the hall. He could not stay longer in that house. The owner told him that as he had engaged the room he would have to keep it. They could not come to an understanding. He saw an officer passing by and called upon the representative of law to help him extricate himself. The officer knew a few German words, he stepped in, and they went to the police station together, and there a record was made of his remarkable adventures. He left his lodgings a third time on similar grounds. On his excursions he always carries a revolver and that gives him a certain sense of security. It is easy to diagnose this as a case of paranoia. The absence of insight after the emotional episodes shows the psychotic character of the trouble. A victim of anxiety neurosis may have similar experiences. But afterwards, perhaps only a few hours after the occurrence, he says to himself: “It was nonsense,” and is ashamed to speak of it later. But this man dwells on his adventures trying to convince me of the dangers he has gone through.