Showing papers in "Archives of General Psychiatry in 1968"
TL;DR: In the decade since the syndrome of early infantile autism was first described by Kanner, terms such as childhood schizophrenia, atypical children, 4 children with unusual sensitivities, 5 and symbiotic psychosis were used to conceptualize similar, yet apparently distinctive clinical entities.
Abstract: WITHIN the decade since the syndrome of early infantile autism was first described by Kanner, 1-2 terms such as childhood schizophrenia, 3 atypical children, 4 children with unusual sensitivities, 5 and symbiotic psychosis 6 were used to conceptualize similar, yet apparently distinctive clinical entities. The tendency to create separate entities was reinforced by a desire for diagnostic specificity and accuracy and etiologic preference. As the symptomatology in these children varies both with the severity of the illness and age, it has been possible to emphasize distinctive clusters of symptoms and relate these to particular theories of causation. For instance, the predominance of disturbances of relating coupled with the prevailing belief in the 1940's and 1950's that specific syndromes in children must be outgrowths of specific parental behaviors or attitudes 7 led to attempts to implicate the parents in the development of early infantile autism. The
292 citations
TL;DR: The mild depression of the puerperium has several intriguing aspects, and the dysphoria curiously occurs after delivery at a time when one would expect women to feel joyous, which is occasionally the time of onset of a major emotional upheaval—the postpartum psychosis.
Abstract: THE TRANSIENT mild depression occurring post partum (the "postpartum blues") is so ubiquitous and ostensibly benign that it has not often been deemed worthy of serious study. Consequently, considerable uncertainty exists about the basic characteristics and significance of this syndrome. In females, the study of stress in the life cycle demands attention to endocrine-behavioral interaction, since some of the times of greatest life stress (ie, menarche, pregnancy, and menopause) occur simultaneously with marked fluctuations in the level of circulating steroid hormones. The mild depression of the puerperium has several intriguing aspects. Although it is associated with a critical phase in the life cycle, the dysphoria curiously occurs after delivery at a time when one would expect women to feel joyous. In fact, this period is occasionally the time of onset of a major emotional upheaval—the postpartum psychosis. Furthermore, the depression
232 citations
TL;DR: Maas and Landis 3,4 using a double-isotope technique in the dog, differentiated the metabolism of NE by brain and body pools and found, in agreement with Mannarino et al, that the major metabolite of brain NE excreted in urine, throughout the 12-hour experimental period, was MHPG.
Abstract: MANNARINO et al 1 found that following the injection of 14 carbon labeled norepinephrine (NE) ( 14 C-NE) into the lateral ventricle of a cat, the principle labeled o-methylated deaminated metabolite recovered in the cerebrum and cerebellum was 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy phenylglycol (MHPG) and, that in a three-hour pool of urine, over 50% of the recovered radioactivity was present as a conjugate of MHPG. However, due to the fact that with this method some of the injected isotope enters the body pool, 2 the exact contribution of peripheral stores of norepinephrine (NE) in urinary metabolites could not be given with certainty. Maas and Landis 3,4 using a double-isotope technique in the dog, differentiated the metabolism of NE by brain and body pools and found, in agreement with Mannarino et al, that the major metabolite of brain NE excreted in urine, throughout the 12-hour experimental period, was MHPG.
197 citations
TL;DR: At the Los Angeles County General Hospital Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, it was found out what happened to such a minority group patient after he applied for treatment and was seen initially by a therapist.
Abstract: WHAT happens to a patient of a "visible minority group" when he seeks psychiatric treatment? At the Los Angeles County General Hospital Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic we found out what happened to such a minority group patient after he applied for treatment and was seen initially by a therapist. We were especially interested whether these minority group patients were offered therapy and if so, what type. By "visible minority group" we mean Negroes, Mexican Americans, and Orientals and not one of the ethnic Caucasian groups, ie, minority groups, who are easily distinguishable from the majority Caucasian group. In our clinic, a patient can get individual therapy, group therapy, or drug therapy. Some patients are seen once and are discharged as being unsuitable for therapy or not needing psychiatric treatment. Our interest in this problem stems from the fact that our Outpatient Clinic population includes a
141 citations
TL;DR: The availability of a computer program for psychiatric diagnosis with demonstrated validity would make possible meaningful comparisons of the diagnostic composition of various populations.
Abstract: IN RECENT YEARS there has been increased interest in using computers to arrive at a clinical diagnosis. Part of the present well-documented unreliability of psychiatric diagnoses 1,2 lies in the variability in the operations by which clinicians use the raw data of observation to make a diagnosis. This source of unreliability is completely eliminated by the use of a computer program which will always arrive at the same diagnosis when given the raw data describing a subject. The availability of a computer program for psychiatric diagnosis with demonstrated validity would make possible meaningful comparisons of the diagnostic composition of various populations. Such comparisons are now difficult to interpret because of the use of different diagnostic criteria by clinicians. Although several attempts at developing computer programs for classifying patients according to the standard psychiatric nomenclature have been made, they have all relied on
139 citations
TL;DR: The specific data which form the basis for this report were gathered as part of a larger interdisciplinary study of physiological, psychological, and social changes occurring in old age.
Abstract: KNOWLEDGE about sexual behavior in old age is still very scant. A few cross-sectional data have been recorded in the literature 1-5 and these give some indication of the degree and kind of change which takes place. But cross-sectional data can obscure as well as clarify understanding of a process, and longitudinal data are obviously needed to complete the picture. The present paper is one in a series of reports on sexual behavior of aged individuals who have been studied repeatedly over an extended period of time. Background Since 1954 a longitudinal study of elderly individuals has been carried out. The specific data which form the basis for this report were gathered as part of a larger interdisciplinary study of physiological, psychological, and social changes occurring in old age. Subjects of the study were 260 community volunteers who were 60 years or older at the inception of the study. Subjects
135 citations
TL;DR: The hypothesis that changes in sleep pattern reflect changes in the physiological processes underlying brain function in general is supported, and the relationships to age of the main sleep variables are sought and the forms of these relationships with those of other variables potentially related to brain function are compared.
Abstract: SOME behavioral changes with age may occur at a uniform rate throughout life, but most seem to be more pronounced during childhood or old age. On the hypothesis that changes in sleep pattern reflect changes in the physiological processes underlying brain function in general, we have sought to determine the relationships to age of the main sleep variables and to compare the forms of these relationships with those of other variables potentially related to brain function. A previous paper 1 described some effects of normal and pathological aging on the sleep pattern of human subjects. Here we have analyzed the trends in the sleep variables for the 38 normal individuals (age range from 5 to 96 years) of the previous study. We have analyzed data, representative of other potentially related variables, that are available in the literature for psychometric test scores, 2 brain oxygen uptake (CMRO2), 3-5 body metabolism (BMR),
133 citations
TL;DR: "Munchausen's syndrome" represents a special pattern within the group of factitious illnesses, characterized by marked chronicity and the tendency of these patients to wander from hospital to hospital and city to city.
Abstract: FACTITIOUS ILLNESS is the appropriate diagnosis in patients who consciously distort their medical history and produce misleading physical findings and laboratory results through self-inflicted lesions. By simulating patterns of physical disease, these patients may cause themselves to be subjected to painful and dangerous diagnostic and treatment procedures. "Munchausen's syndrome" represents a special pattern within the group of factitious illnesses. It is characterized by marked chronicity and the tendency of these patients to wander from hospital to hospital and city to city. Bean describes those afflicted with the syndrome as follows: At the frayed end of . . . (the human) spectrum is the fascinating derelict, human flotsam detached from its moorings, the peripatetic medical vagrant, the itinerant fabricator of nearly perfect facsimile of serious illness—the victim of Munchausen's Syndrome.1 Terminology.—The terminology used in describing this disorder is better noted for its color than for its clarity.
128 citations
TL;DR: A large number of studies have been published on the use of chlorpromazine with chronic schizophrenic patients, and this study is likely to be the first of its kind to compare and contrast the effects of different doses of the drug on the same patient.
Abstract: THIS STUDY on the efficacy of high dose chlorpromazine treatment in chronic schizophrenia was developed under the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) psychopharmacology program during 1964 and was initiated in seven collaborating public mental hospitals early in 1965. The hospitals participating in this study were Boston State Hospital, Boston; Broughton State Hospital, Morganton, NC; Dorothea Dix State Hospital, Raleigh, NC; Kentucky State Hospital, Danville, Ky; Manhattan State Hospital, New York; St. Louis State Hospital, St. Louis; and Springfield State Hospital, Sykesville, Md. These hospitals were selected to represent the entire urbanrural continum. Three hospitals admitted patients exclusively from large urban centers, two hospitals served areas which included both urban and rural communities, and two hospitals served areas which were almost exclusively rural. Background During the past 13 years, a large number of studies have been published on the use of chlorpromazine with chronic schizophrenic
127 citations
TL;DR: Most cases reported are young, in apparent good health, on fairly high doses of one or more of the phenothiazine tranquilizing drugs, and often, in spite of the level of administered dose, difficult to control.
Abstract: IN RECENT YEARS many clinicians have become increasingly troubled over reports of sudden unexplained death occurring in psychiatric patients being treated with phenothiazine tranquilizing drugs. Most cases reported are young, in apparent good health, on fairly high doses of one or more of the phenothiazines, and often, in spite of the level of administered dose, difficult to control. Patients may drop to the floor unconscious, in shock or cardiac arrest, and often have severe cardiac arrhythmias; they aspirate food or gastric contents; or they may be found dead in their rooms without signs of an agonal struggle. Generally, autopsies on such patients are not helpful in fixing an anatomic cause of death. Three possible mechanisms for death have been suggested: cardiac arrhythmias and arrest; sudden catastrophic hypotension; and asphyxia due to aspiration. These sudden death reactions are said to be unpredictable and unpreventable. 1,2 Relatively few of these cases
115 citations
TL;DR: Given the prevalence of these motives it is not surprising that drugs play a role not only in the behavior of individuals but also in social and ideological processes.
Abstract: WHILE SCIENTISTS may debate the appropriate use of hallucinogens, history records our unceasing urge to cope with dreary reality or dread with the aid of magic, drugs, drama, festival rites, and (with biological regularity) through dreams. The need to transcend limits also finds a voice in utopian ideologies-be they of the inner world, of this, or the next; the promise of omnipotent mastery is always either implicit or readily inferred. Thus whether it is the proletarian masses, or youth mesmerized by mellow yellow banana, or the princes of the land of genital primacy, or the meek-each is promised the inheritance of what probably will be a rather crowded earth. Given the prevalence of these motives it is not surprising that drugs play a role not only in the behavior of individuals but also in social and ideological processes. With the appropriate motives and occasion
TL;DR: Children of near average, average or above average general intelligence with certain learning or behavioral disabilities ranging from mild to severe, which are associated with deviations of function of the central nervous system are referred to.
Abstract: >RECENTLY, there has been a great deal of interest in a group of behaviorally and intellectually deviant children called "brain injured," "minimally brain damaged," or "minimal brain dysfunction syndrome (MBD)." 1,2 In 1963, the National Institute of Blindness and Neurological Diseases assembled a Task Force comprised predominantly of physicians to report on terminology and identification of the child MBD. In the subsequent report 3 this Task Force defined MBD as follows: Minimal brain dysfunction syndrome refers in this paper to children of near average, average or above average general intelligence with certain learning or behavioral disabilities ranging from mild to severe, which are associated with deviations of function of the central nervous system. These deviations may manifest themselves by various combinations of impairment in perception, conceptualization, language, memory, and control of attention, impulse or motor function (italics mine). 3(p9-10)
TL;DR: A follow-up study of adolescent patients hospitalized for suicidal attempts compares those who made posthospitalization suicidal attempts with those who did not with regard to five variables: living situation, parental loss, social life, social agency contact, and school adjustment.
Abstract: THIS PAPER, a follow-up study of adolescent patients hospitalized for suicidal attempts, compares those who made posthospitalization suicidal attempts with those who did not with regard to five variables: living situation, parental loss, social life, social agency contact, and school adjustment. It attempts to answer the following questions: (1) Did suicidal behavior continue after hospitalization? (2) What factors are associated with those who do continue to show suicidal behavior? Representative studies of adolescent suicidal behavior include: (a) general reviews, Balser and Masterson, 1 Bakwin, 2,3 Gould, 4 Jacobziner 5 ; (b) methods used, Jacobziner 6 ; (c) etiological factors, such as school problems, Otto 7 ; (d) or family disorganization, Tuckman and Connon, 8 Teicher and Jacobs 9,10 ; (e) psychodynamics, Schrut, 11 Glaser 12 ; and (f) presuicidal behavior, Schneer et al, 13 and Otto. 14 The research by Teicher and Jacobs represents one
TL;DR: Gambling is held to have originated in primitive man's fascination with divination and primitive justice since, for the archaic mind, nothing, especially an uncertain event, is without cause and effect.
Abstract: GAMBLING is one of the most frequent of man's endeavors. In various forms it occurs universally in all cultures, all ages, and is participated in widely by those of all societies and social strata. Anthropological studies reveal its frequent occurrence in the most primitive of societies, and our modern games of chance are frequently more sophisticated versions of games once played by our forebears. Gambling is held to have originated in primitive man's fascination with divination and primitive justice since, for the archaic mind, nothing, especially an uncertain event, is without cause and effect. 1 Here unpredictable events are determined by supernatural agencies to which one can magically appeal for favor or decision. This is illustrated in the indentification of criminals by the casting of lots or by nut spinning in some precivilized cultures. 1 The best, as well as the worst,
TL;DR: The evidence suggests that behavioral change occurs during psychotherapy, but is masked in largesample statistical-outcome studies, where positive and negative therapeutic effects cancel out.
Abstract: ALTHOUGH there is no convincing evidence from group outcome studies that psychotherapy is effective, 1 recent work 2 suggests that groups of patients so treated show both negative and positive change when compared to untreated controls. Those treated tend to be widely dispersed from improved to worsened, while untreated control subjects usually show slight improvement and cluster about the mean. The variability in outcome following psychotherapy appears to depend on therapist and to a lesser extent on patient characteristics. Thus the evidence suggests that behavioral change occurs during psychotherapy, but is masked in largesample statistical-outcome studies, where positive and negative therapeutic effects cancel out. An alternative research approach is the controlled study of the single case. This approach allows for detailed and sensitive investigation of the variables responsible for behavioral change in psychotherapy. Individualized and direct measures of pertinent symptomatic behaviors can be devised and monitored throughout an experimental therapy. The effect of a single therapeutic variable
TL;DR: In a longitudinal study of manic-depressive disorder, it does seem that stress or discomfort-involvement increase plasma cortisol, while calm, sleep or hypnosis reduce it to very low levels.
Abstract: DISTURBED, retarded, and severely depressed patients appear to have higher morning plasma cortisol levels than normal control populations. 1-3 Hyperactive manic patients have been found to have normal or low levels of morning plasma cortisol. 3,4 However, most cortisol values, in these reported cases, do not fall outside the normal range, and patients with obviously abnormal results may show evidence of malnutrition or previous poor dietary history. At no time has any specific association been found between affective disorders and cortisol metabolism. It does seem that stress or discomfort-involvement increase plasma cortisol, while calm, sleep or hypnosis 5 reduce it to very low levels. In a longitudinal study of manic-depressive disorder, we tested the three following hypotheses: 1. Patients with affective disorders have an abnormal diurnal pattern of behavior. Diurnal plasma cortisol levels were tested for possible correlated changes. Recently, several authors have investigated plasma
TL;DR: The results of a longitudinal study involving 162 nights of all-night polygraphic recording in six manic-depressive patients who were followed through the various clinical phases of their illness are presented.
Abstract: THIS REPORT presents the results of a longitudinal study involving 162 nights of all-night polygraphic recording in six manic-depressive patients who were followed through the various clinical phases of their illness. Depressed patients have been the subjects of a number of investigations in the sleep laboratory, although usually no distinction has been made between different classes of depression. 1-11 No studies of mania have been reported up to now except for a preliminary report from our laboratory .7 Results in depressed patients are conflicting to a certain extent; even the most prominent finding in one study is not noted at all in another. However, some points are clear. A sleep disturbance exists; depressed patients generally have less total sleep than normal subjects, and more awakenings during the night. 3-5,8,9 They usually have less stage 4 (deep slowwave) sleep. 3-5,8,9,11 The early-morning awakenings traditionally associated
TL;DR: The symptoms of this disease were grouped into disturbances of perception, motility, relating, language, and developmental rate, which were shown to be fundamental to the other aspects of the disease.
Abstract: IN A RECENT communication, 1 early infantile autism, atypical development, symbiotic psychosis, and certain cases of childhood schizophrenia were shown to be variants of the same disease. The symptoms of this disease were grouped into disturbances of perception, motility, relating, language, and developmental rate. The disturbances of perception were shown to be fundamental to the other aspects of the disease. They are manifested early in life by the developmental failure of the autistic child to differentiate himself from his environment, to imitate others, and to adequately modulate sensory input. A failure of homeostatic regulation of sensory input was postulated to underlie these deficits. This homeostatic imbalance leads to a state of perceptual inconstancy. The symptoms of the disease were considered in terms of their chronologic appearance, the descriptive groupings just mentioned, and the major developmental manifestations of faulty homeostatic
TL;DR: Assessment of the role of the adrenal cortex in the response of man to stressful situations suggests the importance of individual difference in the psychological and physiological handling of threatening events in the environment.
Abstract: EVALUATION of the role of the adrenal cortex in the response of man to stressful situations has long been a problem of major interest to investigators. Early the effects of relatively well defined and isolated environmental events were studied. These included studies of auto race drivers, 1 college 0arsmen, 2 medical students taking final exams, 3 and patients prior to cardiac and pulmonary surgery. 4 Initially the stress of the event itself was regarded as the only significant variable against which the subjects physiological response was measured. The degree of stress which such events provided for the subjects under study was based entirely on subjective estimates by the investigators. Subsequent studies, especially those of Wolff, 5 Fox, 6 and Sachar, 7 modified this approach by suggesting the importance of individual difference in the psychological and physiological handling of threatening events in the environment,
TL;DR: The present study was designed to examine specifically whether this differential effect of chlordiazepoxide and oxazepam acted differentially in altering hostile and aggressive feelings in a population of student volunteers.
Abstract: IN TWO PREVIOUS publications DiMascio and Barrett 1,2 reported on the effects of minor tranquilizers of the benzodiazepine class (chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, diazepam, and oxazepam) when administered to a population of student volunteers. Data were presented for subjects divided according to their initial scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS). Those with high levels of anxiety became significantly less anxious when given one of the drugs daily for one week. By contrast, those subjects with low levels of anxiety, who were similarly treated, became more anxious. Data also obtained in these studies, but not published, strongly suggested that while these three benzodiazepines possessed similar antianxiety properties, they acted differentially in altering hostile and aggressive feelings; chlordiazepoxide unexpectedly tending to increase them, oxazepam having no effect on them. Accordingly, the present study was designed to examine specifically whether this differential effect of chlordiazepoxide and
TL;DR: A preliminary investigation of the adaptation patients make to total colectomy and to the resulting permanent ileostomy on colostomy is reported on.
Abstract: THIS PAPER will report on a preliminary investigation of the adaptation patients make to total colectomy and to the resulting permanent ileostomy on colostomy. Total colectomy is a procedure that results in the complete removal of the colon, and most often, the rectum as well, so that a permanent, artificial means of defecation has to be created (ileostomy or colostomy). An ileostomy is formed by bringing an end of small intestine through the abdominal wall to serve as an opening for the intestines. The discharged intestinal contents are unformed and cannot be regulated, requiring an appliance over the stoma which must be worn continually. A colostomy is formed by bringing an end of the large intestine through the abdominal wall to serve as an intestinal orifice. The contents are more formed. Our purpose was to study how patients react to these procedures in terms
TL;DR: It is intended to draw attention to a basic biological cycle—the 90-minute "sleep-dream cycle"—to define and describe the cycle, and to present some data from studies specifically investigating this variable.
Abstract: THIS PAPER is intended to draw attention to a basic biological cycle—the 90-minute "sleep-dream cycle"—to define and describe the cycle, and to present some data from studies specifically investigating this variable. The outline of a typical night's sleep defined by electroencephalogram and eyemovement criteria is by now well known. The parameters usually studied are the amount of sleep, the amount of D-time (rapid eye movement REM)-time, "dream time") in absolute terms or as a percentage of the night's sleep, the amount of stage 4 or other stages of "slow-wave sleep," the number of awakenings, and time spent awake. As seen in Fig 1, a D-period occurs approximately every 90 minutes during the night, and it is this cycle—90 minutes long in adult man—which will be our subject here. Characteristics of the Cycle in Man The cycle and investigations of changes in cycle length
TL;DR: Himes' detailed review of the history of contraception suggests that immense human energy and ingenuity has been utilized in the service of preventing the meeting of the sperm and ovum.
Abstract: THE OLDEST medical prescriptions for the prevention of conception still extant in writing are found in the Egyptian Papyri. The Petri Papyrus, found at Kahun in April 1889, and dating from the reign of Amenemhat III of the 12th Dynasty (c 1850BC), is a medical papyrus consisting of gynecological instructions and prescriptions. Himes1presents a fascinating discussion of the extent to which the suggested contraceptive methods (crocodile dung, honey, oil, and a large variety of sticky and gummy substances) were exclusively magical or whether their use, empirically determined initially, was not also based upon some appreciation of their physiological properties. Himes' detailed review of the history of contraception suggests that immense human energy and ingenuity has been utilized in the service of preventing the meeting of the sperm and ovum. Men and women have always longed for both fertility and sterility, each at
TL;DR: The use of twin studies as a means of disentangling some of the interaction of nature and nurture is sufficiently well known for it to be unnecessary to give any elaborate explanation here.
Abstract: IN THIS PAPER, we will report briefly on a series of male twins where at least one of each pair was homosexual. One object is to report the number of concordant and discordant, monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) pairs observed. A second object is to examine the frequency of homosexuality in twins per se. One of the twin pairs was from a family deserving special attention. Among 14 siblings, there were three sets of male MZ twins. Two of these three sets of twins were concordant for homosexuality; in the remaining pair both twins were heterosexual. The results of our study of this family will be presented in detail. The use of twin studies as a means of disentangling some of the interaction of nature and nurture is sufficiently well known for it to be unnecessary to give any elaborate explanation here. 1,2 Briefly, differences in MZ pairs provide
TL;DR: It was found that psychiatrically abnormal adolescent girls exhibited a far higher prevalence of neurologic abnormality than would have been expected had they been drawn at random from their age group in the general population.
Abstract: THIS IS the second report in an ongoing series of investigations concerned with examining the association between primary central nervous system abnormality and serious psychiatric disturbance in adolescents. In the first of these investigations we examined this association in psychiatrically disturbed adolescent girls 1 who represented all patients sequentially admitted to the female adolescent service of a psychiatric receiving hospital over a six-month period. On each of the indicators of neurologic dysfunction used in that study it was found that psychiatrically abnormal adolescent girls exhibited a far higher prevalence of neurologic abnormality than would have been expected had they been drawn at random from their age group in the general population. Moreover, the proportion of individuals as well as the frequency with which CNS abnormalities were found varied systematically with the severity of psychiatric illness. The findings of this study encouraged us in our
TL;DR: A circadian rhythm of mood in depression has been known for many years but it has been investigated in only a few pathological states including blindness, central nervous system disease, 4,5 and hypofunction and hyperfunction of the adrenals.
Abstract: CIRCADIAN rhythms have been established for many physiological functions in both animals and humans. 1 These include the well-known daily variations in body temperature and, of most interest to psychiatry, adrenal cortical activity. 2 Although this circadian rhythm has been carefully investigated in normal subjects, it has been investigated in only a few pathological states including blindness, 3 central nervous system (CNS) disease, 4,5 and hypofunction and hyperfunction of the adrenals. 2 A circadian rhythm of mood in depression has been known for many years. As most clinicians are aware, the depressed patient typically feels worse in the morning, and his mood improves as the day progresses. He generally feels well in evening and falls asleep without much difficulty. The depressed individual usually awakens early in the morning between 2 AM and 5 AM, feels very depressed, and is not able to go back to sleep. This
TL;DR: The present study explored the hypothesis that REM deprivation will relieve the symptoms of depression and found that a prolonged decrease of REM time in man is suggested to be a causal factor in psychosis.
Abstract: THE FINDINGS that schizophrenics are not psychologically harmed by rapid eye movement (REM) deprivation and that they respond physiologically to REM deprivation in the same way as nonschizophrenics 1 dissuaded us from the prevailing view that REM deprivation is a causal factor in psychosis. As a result, we began to consider the possibility of other effects of REM deprivation, The present study was designed to explore the hypothesis that REM deprivation will relieve the symptoms of depression. Five lines of evidence led to this hypothesis. (1) The major chemical antidepressants (imipramine, 2,3 amitriptyline hydrochloride [Elavil Hydrochloride] , 4 monoamine oxidase [MAO] 5,6 inhibitors, and amphetamines) 7 are potent REM deprivers. (2) Electroshock therapy (EST) , 8-10 an efficacious antidepressant, is a potent REM depriver. (3) Reserpine, which can induce depression, elevates REM time in man. 4 Thus, these three findings suggest that a prolonged decrease of
TL;DR: A controversy exists as to both the immediate and long lasting psychotogenic potential of prolonged sleep deprivation, with some transient disruption of behavior and attention.
Abstract: A RECENT sleep deprivation bibliography compiled by Naitoh1lists more than 175 entries since the original study by Patrick and Gilbert in 1896.2Review of this literature points up the following. 1. There are no carefully controlled studies of 200 or more hours of sleeplessness. With few exceptions, such as those of Katz3and Ross,4most of the reports involve studies of less than 120 hours of sleep deprivation, which is well within the endurance of most adults. Although the upper limits have not been established, it is likely that most adults have approached their endurance near 200 hours. 2. A controversy exists as to both the immediate and long lasting psychotogenic potential of prolonged sleep deprivation. Early reports noted perceptual changes, with some transient disruption of behavior and attention. Tyler5,6noted "symptoms like schizophrenia" in
TL;DR: Compared the incidence of dyskinesia in schizophrenic patients randomly assigned to groups receiving high doses or moderate doses of chlorpromazine, or receiving a placebo, and arrived at a similar conclusion; however, all authors arrived at the same conclusion.
Abstract: APPROXIMATELY 30 investigators 1 have reported the occurrence of permanent or slowly reversible tic-like, choreoathetoid, and dystonic movements in certain populations of mental hospitals. Such motor abnormalities, referred to as tardive dyskinesia, 2 have been attributed since Schoenecker described them in 1957 to the prolonged treatment with neuroleptic drugs; only recently, however, have attempts been made to provide solid evidence that these types of dyskinesias are drug-induced. Degkwitz and Wenzel 3 Degkwitz et al, 4 Pryce and Edwards, 5 observed that the frequency of dyskinesia was related to the dosage of neuroleptics and the duration of treatment with such agents. In a previous study 6 I compared the incidence of dyskinesia in schizophrenic patients randomly assigned to groups receiving high doses or moderate doses of chlorpromazine, or receiving a placebo, and arrived at a similar conclusion. However, all authors
TL;DR: It is conjecture that these behavioral characteristics of early infantile autism are indeed significant and may actually provide a key to autism.
Abstract: IN 1943, Kanner published his first description of early infantile autism in which the characteristic features of the illness consisted of a profound withdrawal from contact with people existing "from the beginning of life," an obsessive desire for the preservation of sameness, a skillful and even affectionate relation to objects, the retention of an intelligent and pensive physiognomy, and either mutism or noncommunicative speech. 1-3 The syndrome has subsequently become one of the most provocative and controversial targets of psychiatric research, with most of the work being focused in the areas of ego development, personal relations, affect, and language development. In only a few recent studies has serious attention been given to the unusual and stereotyped motor and perceptual behaviors frequently seen in these children. It is our conjecture that these behavioral characteristics are indeed significant and may actually provide a key to