The time period from 1840 to 1950 was one of rapid, dramatic change in the experience of suffering from and receiving treatment for obsessional disorder in the United States. Several patient case histories are discussed in detail, including those of a theology professor’s acquaintance (1844), a wealthy gentleman (1880), a hosiery shop proprietor (1938), and a former college student (1949). Although the focus here is on the patients’ experience, many broader aspects of the history of obsessional disorder are also explored.
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See (1) Gearon PJ. Scruples: words of consolation, with a letter from his holiness pope Pius XI. 4th ed. London: Burns, Oates, Washbourne, 1933 (first published in 1925); (2) Mullen JJ. Psychological factors in the pastoral treatment of scruples. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co., 1927; (3) O’Keeffe WR. Scruples: how to avoid them. Dublin: Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, 1943; (4) Casey D. The nature and treatment of scruples: a guide for directors of souls. Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1948; (5) de Saint-Laurent CR. Scruples and how to overcome them: the cause of overscrupulousness and its remedy. Dublin: Aubanel, 1952; and (6) O’Flaherty VM. How to cure scruples. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1966.
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Van Megen H, den Boer-Wolters D and Verhagen P. Obsessive compulsive disorder and religion: a reconnaissance. In: Verhagen P, et al. (eds) Religion and psychiatry: beyond boundaries. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010, 271–282, 273–275. See also Fontenelle LF, et al. Trans-cultural aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a description of a Brazilian sample and a systematic review of international clinical studies. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2004; 38: 403–411; Abramowitz JS, et al. Association between Protestant religiosity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and cognitions. Depression and Anxiety 2004; 20: 70–76.
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Janet P. Les Obsessions et la Psychasthénie. Paris: Alcan, 1903, reprinted in New York: Arno, 1976, p.555. See also Pitman. Historical considerations, 4; Pitman R. Janet’s Obsessions and Psychasthenia: a synopsis, Psychiatric Quarterly 1984; 56: 291–315; Shamdasani S. Claire, Lise, Jean, Nadia, and Gisèle: preliminary notes towards a characterization of Pierre Janet’s psychasthenia. In: Gijswijt-Hofstra M and Porter R (eds) Cultures of neurasthenia: from Beard to the First World War. New York: Rodopi, 2001, pp.363–385.
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