For this, it is not essential that the victim's mind be pervaded by the
infantine cosmogony which parades often as religious truth. Without anything
of the sort, there may arise naive interpretations, hardly even having
explicit reference to supernatural agents. For example, a patient may say
"If I begin on Friday, a certain undertaking will fail," "If I do not turn
my vest twice, misfortune will occur," "It is incumbent upon me to turn
round in my chair, or the negotiations will fail." The enumeration of
expedients would be useless. The above are from three different patients,
one a boy of fourteen now completely cured; the second from the son of a
prominent public man now quite restored to health; the third from a case
still under care. In none of these was the bodily state of importance, the
psychological reactions were the sole object of therapeutic effort, and
their ordination was accomplished by purely psychological means.
DATA CONCERNING DELUSIONS OF PERSONALITY WITH NOTE ON THE ASSOCIATION OF
BRIGHT'S DISEASE AND UNPLEASANT DELUSIONS.[*]
[*] Presented in abstract at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American
Psychopathological Association, held in New York City, May 5, 1915. Being
Contributions of the State Board of Insanity, Whole Number 47 (1915. 13).
The material was derived from the Pathological Laboratory of the Danvers
State Hospital, Hathorne, Massachusetts, and the clinical notes were
collected by Dr. A. Warren Stearns, to whom I wish to express my
indebtedness but to whom no one should ascribe the somewhat speculative
character of the present conclusions. (Bibliographical Note.--The previous
contribution was State Board of Insanity Contribution, Whole Number 46
(1915.12) by D. A. Thom and E. E. Southard entitled "An Anatomical Search
for Idiopathic Epilepsy: Being a First Note on Idiopathic Epilepsy at
Monson State Hospital, Massachusetts," accepted by Review of Neurology and
Psychiatry, 1915.)
E. E. SOUTHARD, M. D.
Pathologist, State Board of Insanity, Massachusetts; Director, Psychopathic
Hospital, Boston, Mass., and Bullard Professor of Neuropathology, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, Mass.
ABSTRACT
Previous work on somatic delusions. Suggestion that allopsychic delusions
are as a rule in some sense autopsychic. A genetic hint from general
paresis (frontal site of lesions in cases with autopsychic trend.) Mental
symptomatology of general paresis. Work on fifth-decade psychoses.
Statistical summary. Group with pleasant (or not unpleasant) delusions.
Three cases of senile dementia, delusions of grandeur, and frontal lobe
changes. Three cases with religious delusions. Remainder of
pleasant-delusion group. Group with unpleasant delusions. Nephrogenic
group.
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