Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2018
Hysterical stupor is rare, and indeed some authorities are sceptical of its existence. There are few references to it in English, either in standard text-books or papers. Oppenheim and Bleuler refer to it in passing, but with little clinical detail. Hoch's benign stupors, in spite of their name, are really psychotic reactions. He refers to invariable intellectual retardation and preoccupation with ideas of death being present, and actually a follow-up has shown that most of these cases were really schizophrenic. Millais Culpin, Hubert, and others writing of war neuroses describe hysterical stupors, but they have been the result of terrifying experiences at the front. The case described below showed features which would appear to justify a diagnosis of hysterical stupor, occurring in an individual subject to little external strain. This, in conjunction with a failure to improve over some weeks, but with rapid recovery after cardiazol treatment would seem to warrant reporting it.
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