Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:25:35.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Models of Mania: An Individual Case Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

D. R. Hemsley  and
H. C. Philips
D. R. Hemsley
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF
H. C. Philips
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A longitudinal study of a single case of manic-depressive psychosis investigated the relationship between psychiatric ratings, reaction time and two measures of autonomic activity. Measurements were made on 19 occasions over a five-month period. The number of slow responses on the reaction time task increased with increasing depression. Manic periods appeared not to be characterized by a slowing of responses, but rather by an increase in the number of premature responses, i.e. those made to the warning signal. A derived performance index discriminated over the complete range from severe depression to severe mania.

Increased depression was associated with lower heart rate resting levels, and increasing mania with increased skin conductance levels. An increased frequency of slow reaction times was significantly associated with lower resting heart rate. Skin conductance measures correlated significantly with the number of premature responses made on the reaction time tasks. Some differences in the relationships emerged when data obtained during the administration of lithium were included in the analysis.

The results are discussed in relation to both the bipolar and the continuum models of manic-depressive psychosis. The latter model is not supported by the present investigation, since manic episodes were not characterized by a more severe departure from normality than depressive episodes on either the number of slowed responses or autonomic measures.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 127 , Issue 1 , July 1975 , pp. 78 - 85
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1975 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Claridge, G. S. (1967) Personality and Arousal, Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Claridge, G. S. (1970) Psychophysiological techniques. In The Psychological Assessment of Mental and Physical Handicap. (ed. Mittler, P.). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Goppen, A., Noovera, R., Bailey, J., Burns, B. H., Swani, M. S., Hare, E. H., Gardner, R. & Maggs, R. (1971) Prophylactic lithium in affective disorders: controlled trial. Lancet, ii, 275–9.Google Scholar
Court, J. H. (1964) A longitudinal study of psychomotor functioning in acute psychiatric patients. Brit. J. med. Psychol., 37, 167–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Court, J. H. (1968) Manic-depressive psychosis: an alternative conceptual model. Brit. J. Psychiat., 114, 517, 1523–30.Google Scholar
Court, J. H. (1972) The continuum model as a resolution of paradoxes in manic-depressive psychosis. Brit. J. Psychiat., 120, 133–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffy, E. (1962) Activation and Behaviour. Wiley.Google Scholar
Duffy, E. (1973) Activation. In Handbook of Psycholog. (ed. Greenfield, N. S. & Sternbach, R. A.), Chap. 15, pp. 577–614.Google Scholar
King, H. E. (1969) Psychomotility: a dimension of behavior disorder. In Neurobiology Aspects of Psychopatholog. (eds. Zubin, J. & Shagass, C.). New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Lacey, J. I. (1956) The evaluation of autonomic responses: towards a general solution. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 67, 123–64.Google Scholar
Lader, M. H. & Wing, L. (1966) Physiological Measures, Sedative Drugs and Morbid Anxiety. Maudsley Monographs, No. 14. O.U.P. Google Scholar
Lader, M. H. & Wing, L. (1969) Physiological measures in agitated and retarded depressed patients. J. psychiat. Res., 7, 89–100.Google Scholar
Noble, P. & Lader, M. H. (1971a) The symptomatic correlates of the skin conductance changes during depression. J. psychiat. Res., 9, 61–9.Google Scholar
Noble, P. & Lader, M. H. (1971b) Depressive illness, pulse rate and forearm blood flow. Brit. J. Psychiat., 119, 261–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shapiro, M. B. (1966) Generality of psychological processes and specificity of outcomes. Percept, mot. Skills, 23, 16.Google Scholar
Silverman, G. (1969) Correspondence. Brit. J. Psychiat., 115, 371.Google Scholar
Teichner, W. H. (1954) Recent studies of simple reaction time. Psychol. Bull., 51, 128–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whybrow, P. C. & Mendels, J. (1969) Towards a biology of depression: some suggestions from neurophysiology. Amer. J. Psychiatry, 125, 111, 1491–1500.Google Scholar
Winokur, G., Clayton, P. & Reich, T. (1969) Manic-Depressive Illness. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.Google Scholar
Woodworth, R. S. & Schlosberg, H. (1954) Experimental Psycholog. (Rev. Ed.). New York: Holt.Google Scholar
Yerkes, R. M. & Dodson, J. D. (1908) The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. J. comp. Neurol. Psychol., 18, 459–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.