Citation

Williams TA. J. Abnorm. Psychol. (1906) 1910; 5(3): 109-113.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1910, American Psychopathological Association, Publisher Gorham Press)

DOI

10.1037/h0072762

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Comments on H. W. Miller's presentation of a case of lyssophobia (see Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol 5, 100-108, PA: 52636), which provides evidence for the ideas of Babinski, while negating those of Freud. It illustrates the unreliability of relatives in providing data on the mechanism of suggestion. The history of the patient reveal the role of the mother's anxiety, the teasing by playmates, and the extreme suggestibility of the patient. The stuperous state of the S was misinterpreted as a case of psychosis when it was actually due to the dominance of a fixed idea. Concludes that the immediate cause of hysteria was a series of suggestions traceable to recent causes, and that the effects of these causes were removable by rational persuasion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)