An inquiry into a frequent cause of insanity in young men. / by Robert P. Ritchie.

  • Ritchie, Robert Peel, 1835-1902.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inquiry into a frequent cause of insanity in young men. / by Robert P. Ritchie. 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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    ]9 In the partial mania case, heart disease and nephria caused the fatal result. Of the 2 imbeciles, phthisis proved fatal to one and cholera to the other. Disease of the chest and nervous exhaustion are the most I frequent causes of the fatal terminations; but, witli the exception of three out of four melancholics dying of nervous exhaustion, the relations of causes of death to form of insanity present no peculiarity. Although diseases of the abdominal organs form but a small proportion of the causes of death, still, during life, the most frequent complications are due to disorders of these t viscera. The inactive condition of the primae vhe is at all times marked, and is, no doubt, due to the impaired state of the nervous system, which is so prominent a feature in these 1 unhappy victims. On referring to the age of those who died, I find that the earliest death was at the age of 21, the age on admission having been 19. The most advanced age at death was 54, the age on admission having been 53; and the patient had been insane since the age of 35. In both instances the cause was exhaustion. The average of the 13 deaths gives the age of 31'2 years; but it must be remembered that these deaths are extended over a period of fifteen years, and of the cases admitted during that time several have attained the age of 40, two that of 50, and by another the age of 60 has been reached. 13. Suicide.—Esquirol states that masturbation frequently leads to suicide; it may, therefore, be not uninteresting to learn in how many instances this tendency was manifested previous to admission. Self-mutilation is also not an in- frequent accompaniment; but correct statistics on this point I am unable to obtain. Analogous to danger to self, is the propensity to do injury
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