Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series No. 2. Studies in Paranoia.

Abstract

The classification of mental diseases is both interesting and important to alienists and psychologists; yet even they are liable to be misled by the rigid systematization of cases. To the ordinary physician, however, the questions of etiology and prognosis in the individual case are more important. The conviction that paranoia is a fixed and incurable disorder is to a certain extent productive of unfortunate results. This conviction is likely to be shaken or removed by a perusal of the monographs of Gierlich and Friedmann. Gierlich concerns himself with certain forms of periodic paranoia and paranoid delusions. He shows that many patients show a tendency to recovery, at least temporarily, with apparently perfectly normal intervals. It was possible to prevent the return of the attacks by suitable measures, or at least the severity of the attacks could be considerably lessened by guarding against weakening of the patient at certain seasons. If