Handbook for the instruction of attendants on the insane / prepared by a Sub-committee of the Medico-Psychological Association appointed at a branch meeting held in Glasgow on the 21st February, 1884.

Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Handbook for the instruction of attendants on the insane / prepared by a Sub-committee of the Medico-Psychological Association appointed at a branch meeting held in Glasgow on the 21st February, 1884. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    [Cliap. 111. of monomania of suspicion. Third, another class carry these suspicious ideas to a still further extreme, and imagine that they are worked upon by electricity, or mesmerism, or gases, but refer their persecution not to the real persons around them, but to some imaginary, supernatural, and unseen power. This is termed the monomania of unseen agency. Varying Dclusious of different characters may be shown by the same Delusions in „ . , . ^ same Patient, ^^tient. I hus Qclusions of grandcur and of suspicion may be associated, as when a person says he is the rightful owner of certain property, but is unjustly kept out of it by the plots of his enemies. And delusions of a depressed character are sometimes found existing along with those of an exalted nature. It is of great im- portance to ascertain the particular delusions and hallucinations of each Patient, as in them we often find the explanation of the Patient's general conduct; and from their character we are enabled to judge better of the Patient's mental condition and of his pro- pensities. For instance, a Patient may think that he hears a voice from heaven telling him to do away with himself; and in such a case we must be prepared to guard against a suicidal attempt, especially if we see that the Patient is very strongly under the influence of the hallucination. As with hallucinations, so with delusions proper : it is a bad omen when the false belief becomes fixed, while we are more hopeful as long as the delusions are of a changing nature. Condition ot (^B.) Couditiou of the Will, sanity; mor- In health the will and the power of self-control regulate our bidimpuisea. gg^gral conduct, and keep our natural impulses within normal bounds. The strength of this self-controlling power varies greatly in different individuals, and is much influenced by the education and training which the person has received. Some persons seem to be naturally deficient in it—they are of weak will, flighty and irregular in their conduct, and largely under the sway of their impulses. Or on the other hand, the will may not be weak in itself; but the ii-npulses or desires may, either from vicious in- dulgence or from disease, be greatly intensified until they become overmastering in their strength, and the controlling power is now insufficient to regulate them. For example, persistent excessive indulgence in alcohol begets a constant craving for stimulants, and at the same time weakens the will-power which ought to enable him to control the craving; and the person, from vicious
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