قراءة كتاب Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type

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Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type

Benign Stupors: A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
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pin pricks or feinting motions before her eyes. Sometimes she retained her urine, again wet and soiled the bed. Often there was marked catalepsy, and the retention of very awkward positions. As a rule she was quite stiff, offering passive resistance towards any interference. She had to be tube-fed at first. Later she was spoon-fed, and then would swallow, in spite of the fact that during the interval between her feeding she would let saliva collect in her mouth. For a time she had a tendency to hold one leg out of bed, and when it was put back would stick the other out. Sometimes she walked of her own accord to the toilet chair, but on one occasion wet the floor before she got there.

During the first month after admission, this stupor was interrupted for two short periods by a little freer action: she walked to a chair, sat down, smiled a little, fanned herself very naturally when a fan was given to her, though even then did not speak.

There was, as a rule, no emotional reaction, but after some months she several times wept when her mother came, though without speaking. Once when taken to the tub she yelled.

Her physical condition during this stupor was as follows: She menstruated freely on admission, then not again until she was well. Several times she had rises of temperature to 102° or 103° with a high pulse and respiration; again a respiration of 40, with but slight rise of temperature, though the pulse had a tendency to go to 130 and over. She was apt to show marked skin hyperæmia wherever touched. With the fever there was found a leucocytosis of from 11,900 to 15,000, with marked increase of polynuclear leucocytes (89%). She got very emaciated, so that four months after admission she weighed 68 lbs. (height 5' 2").

2. About five months after admission she was often seen smiling, and again weeping, and she began to talk a little to the nurses, though not to the doctors. She also began to eat excessively of her own accord, and rapidly gained weight, so that

by January she weighed 98½ lbs., a gain of 30 lbs. in two months. Yet she continued to be sluggish.

3. For two more months she was apathetic and appeared disinterested, often would not reply, again, at the same interview, she would do so promptly and with natural voice. This condition may be illustrated by the summary of a note made on January 29, 1908, which is representative of that period. It is stated that she sat about apathetically all day, appeared sluggish, but was fairly neat about her appearance and cleanly in her habits. There was at no time any evidence of affect, except when asked by the examiner to put out her tongue so that he could stick a pin in it she blushed and hid her face. When asked whether she worried about anything, she denied this. When questions were asked, she sometimes answered promptly and in normal voice, again simply remained silent in spite of repeated urging. On the whole, it seemed that simple impersonal questions were answered promptly; whereas difficult impersonal questions or questions which referred to her condition were not answered at all. She proved to be oriented. Thus she gave the day of the week, month, year, the name of the hospital, names of the doctors and nurses promptly. She also counted quickly and did a few simple multiplications quickly. But she was silent when asked where the hospital was located, how long she had been here, whether she was here one or six months, how she felt. Questions in regard to the condition she had passed through, or involving difficult calculations, she did not answer. However, some questions regarding her condition asked in such a way that they could be answered by "yes" or "no" were again answered quite promptly. Thus when asked whether her head felt all right she said, "Yes, sir." (Is your memory good?) "Yes." (Have you been sick?) "No, sir." (Are you worried?) "No."

4. This apathy cleared up too, so that by the middle of March she was bright, active and smiled freely. With the nurses she was rather talkative and pleased, though this was not marked. Towards the physician only was she natural and free. She then gave the retrospective account of the onset detailed above. When questioned about her condition she claimed not to remember the Observation Pavilion, although recalling vaguely going there in a carriage. She was almost completely amnesic for a consider

able part of her stay in the Institute. She claimed it was only in November or December that she began to know where she was (five months after admission). In harmony with this is the fact that she did not recall the tube- and spoon-feeding which had to be resorted to for about four months of this period. No ideas or visions were remembered. As to her mutism she said, "I don't think I could speak," "I made no effort," again "I did not care to speak." She claimed that she remembered being pricked with a pin but that she did not feel it. She remembered yelling when taken to the tub (towards end of the marked stupor) and claimed she thought she was to be drowned.

When she went home (March 24, 1908) she got into a more elated condition. She was talkative, conversed with strangers on the street, said to her mother that she was now sixteen years old and wanted "a fellow." When the mother would not allow her to go out, she said it would be better if they both would jump out of the window and kill themselves. She then was sent back to the hospital. In the first part of this period after her return, she was somewhat elated and overtalkative, though she did not present a flight of ideas, and was well behaved. She soon got well, however, and was discharged, four months after her readmission, fully recovered.

After that, it is claimed, she was perfectly well and worked successfully most of the time with the exception of a short period in the spring of 1909, when she was slightly elated.

In 1910 she had a subsequent attack, during which she was treated at another hospital. From the description this again seems to have been a typical stupor (immobility, mutism, tendency to catalepsy, rigidity). According to the account of the onset sent by that hospital (it was obtained from the mother), this attack began some months before admission, with complaints of being out of sorts, not being able to concentrate and fearing that another attack would come on. Finally the stupor was said to have been immediately preceded by a seizure in which the whole body jerked. She made again an excellent recovery.

The patient was seen about two years after this attack, and described the development of the psychosis as follows: She claimed she began to feel "queer," "nervous," "depressed," got sleepless. Then (this was given spontaneously) she suddenly

thought she was dying and that her father's picture was talking to her and calling her. "Then I lost my speech." As after the first attack, she claimed not to have any recollection of what went on during a considerable part of the stupor but recalled that she began to talk after her brother visited her. It is not clear how she was during the period immediately following the stupor.

She made a very natural impression and came willingly to the hospital in response to a letter and was quite open about giving information.

Case 2.Caroline DeS. Age: 21. Admitted to the Psychiatric Institute June 10, 1909.

F. H. The father died of apoplexy when patient was nine. The mother had diabetes. A paternal uncle was queer, visionary.

P. H. The patient was always considered natural, bright, had many friends, and was efficient.

Some months before admission the patient's favorite brother, who is a Catholic, became engaged to a Protestant girl, and spoke of changing his religion. The family and the patient were annoyed at this, and the

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