No access

Article

Published Online: March 1942

PSYCHOSES AND ALLIED STATES OCCURRING SUBSEQUENT TO THYROIDECTOMY

MERLE Q. HOWARD and LLOYD H. ZIEGLERAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 98, Number 5

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.98.5.745

Get Access

Abstract

1. The histories of 70 thyroidectomized patients admitted to the Milwaukee Sanitarium in 16¼ years were studied. Clinical data regarding age, sex, residence, occupation, facts before and after thyroidectomy, including Sanitarium residence, are presented.

2. Their psychiatric disorders were chiefly of a functional nature (depression, elation, neurotic) in contrast to psychoses (delirious, exhaustive) usually seen in acute hyperthyroidism.

3. The evidence for acute postoperative delirious or exhaustion states was very slight in the group.

4. There were no cases of myxedema diagnosed by a consulting internist who examined all patients.

5. The prevalence of recurring attacks of psychiatric disorder before and after thyroidectomy makes the coincidence of toxic goiter and such states open to question. It is very probable that in some patients a psychiatric disorder was interpreted as the manifestations of toxic goiter.

6. It seems probable that thyroidectomy has been employed to treat recurring psychiatric disorders and with success because of its shock inducing effect.

7. Toxic goiter has been seen to develop in the course of a profound psychosis of a chronic nature and thyroidectomy was without effect on the psychosis.

8. Whether toxic goiter predisposes to degeneration of the nervous system, or to a deterioration in the functions of a person, is not known. Earlier senility and arteriosclerosis have been suspected.

9. In the study of these patients there seemed to be no positive evidence that emotional states cause hyperthyroidism.

10. The history of a patient who became psychotic and suicidal on the eve of thyroidectomy is presented with differential diagnosis. The patient recovered with electro-shock and psychotherapy during the course of which his supposedly elevated metabolic rate returned to normal.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 98 • Number 5 • March 1942

Pages: 745 - 749

History

Published in print: March 1942

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

MERLE Q. HOWARD

Milwaukee Sanitarium, Wauwatosa, Wisc.

View all articles by this author

LLOYD H. ZIEGLER

Milwaukee Sanitarium, Wauwatosa, Wisc.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

PSYCHOSES AND ALLIED STATES OCCURRING SUBSEQUENT TO THYROIDECTOMY

Abstract

Get full access to this article