Endocrinological Studies on Periodic Psychoses

Abstract

Under the concept of periodic psychoses various clinical conditions can be included according to the degree and mode of the mental breakdown. It is characteristic of typical manic-depressive psychosis, which is the prototype of periodic psychoses, that the lowering of personality level remains relatively slight. If the dissolution of mental function goes further, disturbed states of consciousness such as acute hallucinatory-delusional states and oneiroid or confusional states make their appearance, and sometimes a catatonic syndrome becomes predominant. As a rule, the more acute and serious the breakdown of mental function, the more intense the disturbance of consciousness.