fered from states of excitement during which she presented an exquisitely childish and silly behavior. This happened regularly whenever she was forced to repress sad thought-complexes: Janet is acquainted with this behavior which naturally appears in all gradations. He says: "These persons play a sort of comedy, they are young, naive, coaxing, they pretend complete ignorance and get to be quite like little children." ("Obsessions," p. 391.)
3. Intellectual Disturbances.
Consciousness in dementia præcox shows anomalies which have in many ways been compared to those of hysteria and hypnotism. Often there exist signs of narrowing of consciousness, that is, there is diminished clearness of one idea with abnormal increase of unclearness in all by-associations. Conforming to the views of various authors we may thus explain blind acceptation of ideas without inhibition or correction, a thing analogous to suggestion. Many would explain the peculiar suggestibility of catatonics (echo symptoms) on this basis. The only objection to be advanced against this view is the fact that there is considerable difference between normal and catatonic suggestibility. Normally we observe that the subject will, if possible, accurately adhere to the suggestion if he attempts to realize it, whereas in hysteria peculiar modifications may take place corresponding to the degree and kind of the disease. A suggested sleep may easily transform itself into a hysterohypnosis or into a hysterical dream-state, or the suggestions are only partially executed by the addition of unintentional by-actions.[1] It is for this reason that hypnosis is less controllable in pronounced hysterics than in normal persons. The accidental in the suggestive manifestations of
- ↑ For some time I treated a hysterical patient who suffered from intense depression, headaches, and total inability to work. Whenever I suggested to her to find pleasure in work and to be more cheerful, she was, on the following day often abnormally happy, laughed incessantly, and had a strong impulse to work so that she worked till late in the night. On the third day she was profoundly exhausted. The happy disposition appearing without any motive was unpleasant to her because she constantly thought of nonsense and silly jokes, and laughed impulsively.
An example of hystero-hypnosis can be found in my work, Ein Fall von hysterischem Stupor bei einer Untersuchungsgefangenen. Journ. f. Psych, u. Neur., 1902.
