Morphinomania.

  • Sharkey, Seymour J.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Morphinomania. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    a medical man gives an injection as the most effectual and speedy method of affording relief. It is repeated again and again until the condition which called for its use has entirely subsided. The doctor ceases his attendance, and the patient is considered convalescent and perhaps goes away for change of air. But though his pain is gone he does not feel well—an indefinable sense of discomfort, restless- ness, and lack of energy oppresses him. He remembers the calm which pervaded him after each injection of morphia, and he tries another. In the short space of a few minutes he is an altered being : he recovers his wonted vigour and vivacity, and the cloud which overwhelmed him is lifted as if by magic. He goes on his way re- joicing, only to relapse after a variable number of hours into that condition of dejection, feebleness, and discomfort from which the morphia lately liberated him. He has recourse to it again, and once more experiences its wonderful effects. And now the habit is de- veloped : injections are habitually required before the ordinary duties of life can be performed, and the quantity of the drug employed has to be periodically increased as the system becomes accustomed to it. The patient has, in short, become the victim of an imperious neces- sity ; for the suffering involved in relinquishing the morphia is more than even the most resolute show themselves capable of enduring. An uncontrollable craving, or morphinomania, is established. Dr. Zambaco gives a most graphic account of the condition of a mor- phinomaniac before and after his injection, which I cannot do better than quote : ‘ When the regular time for the injection arrives’ (says he), ‘ an ever-increasing agitation takes possession of me.’ The doctor cannot remain still: an intolerable sensation courses through all his limbs, just as if ants were running over him, as if he was being eaten by innumerable worms; a kind of fatigue, of lassitude, of ex- treme feebleness succeeds. His limbs are dull and heavier than usual, just as they are on leaving a bath in which one has stayed a considerable time. Respiration becomes anxious, deep, and sighing; the pulse feeble, small, and sometimes rapid and irregular. He has palpitation of the heart, buzzing in the ears, and a feeling of emptiness in the head. He cannot fix his mind on anything, and any intellectual work is absolutely impossible. His pupils, which have been contracted ever since he has used the injections, are comparatively widely dilated; one all-absorbing thought dominates him and torments him at that time^—the thought of giving himself an injection. If in moments such as these one tries to oppose him, to pre- vent his injection, or to delay it, he gets into a violent rage—he is beside himself. For the least remark his wife might make to him, he would break and smash every- thing. In fact, one day, when Madame L. had delayed an injection which she hoped by entreaties to prevent, he was seized with a regular attack of furious madness. I was present at one of these scenes of excitement, and I was surprised at its violence. As soon as the injection is given, a complete change takes place. He becomes tranquil again, his good humour returns, at any rate to a certain extent, and he experiences a general feeling of ease. All the unpleasant sensations which made themselves everywhere felt at once give place to calm. He becomes more active, and freer in his movements; the pulse recovers, respiration becomes regular, and his intelligence awakens and is fit for work. Food can then be taken, and he
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