A description of Periodic Catatonia is offered stressing its relatively well-defined nature and the unique opportunity for controlled investigation that it presents. A case is described and discussion is offered of findings, hypotheses and therapy described in the literature. Discussion is particularly devoted to the investigation of the role of the thyroid and treatment with thyroid substances in this disorder. Spontaneous seizures were observed in the case described. Comment is made upon these (ictal) phenomena and E.E.G. changes that may occur in cases of Periodic Catatonia and may bear a fairly constant relationship to other phasic alterations (possibly of nitrogen balance) in this illness.
References
1.
AltschuleM. D., Bodily Physiology in Mental and Emotional Disorders.Grune and Stratton Inc., New York, Pp. 216–219, 1953.
2.
AshbyW. R.: J. Ment. Sc,98: 81, 1952.
3.
AsherR.: Brit. M. J., 2: 555, 1949.
4.
BeldingD., Textbook of Clinical Parasitology.D. Appleton — Century Co., New York, P. 310, 1942.
5.
BleulerE., Dementia Praecox or The Group of Schizophrenias.International Universities Press, New York, Pp. 294–304, 1950.
6.
BonkaloA., Lovett DoustJ. W., and StokesA. B.: Am. J. Psychiat., 112: 114, 1955.
7.
DanzigerL., KindwallJ. A., and LewisH. R.: Dis. Nerv. Syst., 9: 330, 1948.
8.
DanzigerL., and KindwallJ. A.: Dis. Nerv. Syst., 14: 3, 1953.
9.
DanzigerL., and KindwallJ. A.: Dis. Nerv. Syst., 15: 35, 1954.
10.
Department of National Health and Welfare (September, 1955).Hospitals in Canada. General Series, Memorandum No. 10. Research Div., Dept. of Nat. Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Pp. 6 and 8.
11.
Dominion Bureau of Statistics (1955). Mental Health Statistics 1954. Ottawa.
12.
DoolittleG. J.: Psychiat. Quart., 13: 33, 1939.
13.
GjessingR.: J. Ment. Sc., 84: 608, 1938.
14.
GjessingR.: Archiv, f. Psychiatrie u. Zeitschrift Neurologie,191: 191, 1953.
15.
GjessingR.: Personal communication, Oslo, 1956.
16.
GornallA. G., EglitisB., MillerA., StokesA. B., and DewanJ. G.: Am. J. Psychiat., 109: 584, 1953.
17.
HardwickS. W., and StokesA. B.: Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 34: 733, 1941.
18.
HedegaardP., and HjerrildN.: Acta Psychiat. and Neurol., 20: 167, 1945.
HoenigJ., and LeibermanD. M.: J. Neurol. Neurosurg. and Psychiat., 16: 30, 1953.
21.
HoskinsR. G., The Biology of Schizophrenia, W. W. Norton and Co., New York, Pp. 111–114, 1946.
22.
KlotzM.: Dis. Nerv. Syst., 16: 120, 1955.
23.
KraepelinE.: Textbook of Psychiatry, Vol. iii, part ii, section on the Endogenous Dementias. 8th (German) ed. Dementia Praecox and Paraphrenia. Translated by Barclay, E. and S. Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1919.
24.
LeibermanD. M., and HoenigJ.: J. Neurol. Neurosurg. and Psychiat., 16: 194, 1953.
25.
LindsayJ. S. B.: J. Ment. Sc.94: 590, 1948.
26.
Lovett DoustJ. W.: Personal Communication, Toronto, 1957.
27.
PacellaB. L.: Am. J. Psychiat., 101: 783, 1945.
28.
ParfittD. N.: Brit. M. J., 2: 514, 1942.
29.
ReissM.: J. Ment. Sc., 101: 683, 1955.
30.
RowntreeD. W., and KayW. W.: J. Ment. Sc., 98: 100, 1952.
31.
SargantW., FrazerR., and BrazierM. A. B.: J. Ment. Se,84: 255, 1938.
32.
SargantW., and SlaterE., An Introduction of Physical Methods of Treatment in Psychiatry, E. and S. Livingstone, Edinburgh, 3rd ed. Pp. 171–174, 1954.
33.
SchachterJ. S.: J. Nerv, and Ment. Dis., 121: 117, 1955.
34.
StokesA. B.: J. Neurol, and Psychia., 2: 243, 1939.
