Violent Patients in the Emergency Room

During a nine-month period, the authors saw 45 patients who came to the emergency room of the hospital seeking help in controlling their assaultive and destructive impulses. Some had feelings of global hostility and feared "running amok"; in other cases, the violent urges were focused specifically on another person, usually a wife or close relative. The authors were impressed by the fact that these people came to the hospital voluntarily seeking help; they regard it as one primary goal of therapy to encourage and condition such individuals to return whenever their violent impulses become overwhelming.