The study of the sexual disorders has made considerable strides during the past 90 years since Krafft-Ebing published his Psychopathia Sexualis in 1886. There were earlier beginnings which had provided very important insights into the nature of abnormal sexual behaviour, but it fell to Krafft-Ebing to bring sex research into the discipline of medicine, thereby giving it a methodology and a framework within which to unfold. The subsequent history has been described by Wettley and Leibbrand (1959) and constitutes the development of the basis of modern ‘sexology'—a translation of the term ‘Sexualwissenschaft’ created by Iwan Bloch in 1906. The period from the Psychopathia Sexualis to the time of the First World War saw the development of ideas which are still important for modern sexology, although the discipline has since matured into an experimental science using the methodologies of the biological as well as the behavioural sciences—psychology, sociology and anthropology.

Psychodrama, a method of human relations training and psychotherapy, is traced from its creation by Moreno fifty years ago to its present resurgence with the growth of ‘humanistic’ psychology. The basic techniques are described, together with Moreno's concepts of social interaction, e.g. encounter, spontaneity, the moment, catharsis and role playing. Its uses and limitations are discussed briefly.

Various premorbid characteristics of a group of patients aged 50 or over suffering from paranoid psychoses (N = 54) were compared with those of patients of similar age suffering from affective psychoses (N = 57). (The diagnoses were those of the consultants.) The presence of deafness was investigated in the manner described by Cooper et al (1974). Using the discriminant function method, the diagnostic groups were highly significantly differentiated by six independent variables, which in combination predicted 40 per cent of the variance. These were: a ‘schizoid personality’ factor, the number of surviving children, precipitating events, deafness, family history and social class.

Review of the literature concerning the relationship between deafness and psychiatric disorder reveals differences in the pattern of illness depending on the severity of deafness and the age of onset. In particular, the prevalence of schizophrenia in the prelingually deaf is similar to that found in the normal population, whereas the hard of hearing are over-represented among samples of patients suffering from paranoid psychoses in later life.

Possible modes of action of long-standing hearing loss in the aetiology of paranoid illnesses are considered: the psychological and social consequences of deafness, the possible contribution of sensory deprivation phenomena, and the interference of hearing loss in attention, perception and communication. Finally, possible future lines of research are suggested.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an important enzyme in the catabolism of brain biogenic amines. Platelet MAO has been reported to be moderately reduced in manic-depressive patients and markedly reduced in schizophrenic patients. This enzyme's activity has been shown to be under a large degree of genetic control and has been proposed as a ‘genetic marker’ in schizophrenia. A transcultural replication of the finding of low platelet MAO in schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness was carried out at the Jerusalem Mental Health Centre. Manic-depressive patients were found to have higher platelet MAO activity than schizophrenic patients, as reported previously, but control individuals were as low as the schizophrenic patients. It is unlikely that platelet MAO activity is a transculturally-valid marker for schizophrenia.

Whole blood cell ATP concentration was estimated in a group of manic and depressed patients and in a group of normal subjects. There were no significant differences between patient and control groups, nor in the patient groups were there any significant changes with recovery.

Biochemical screening for thyroid dysfunction in 98 unselected female psychiatric admissions led to the diagnosis of hypothyroidism in three cases which would otherwise have passed unrecognized. It is suggested that female psychiatric patients over the age of 40 should routinely be screened for thyroid disorder.

Two series of patients with epilepsy and with febrile convulsions were analysed on Slater's computational model for evidence on the mode of inheritance. The study demonstrated that in both series a polygenic inheritance may be more likely than an autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance.

A number of anthropometric measurements were made on Southern Chinese women. These were 317 schizophrenics, 44 with affective disorder, 47 neurotics and normal controls. All groups and sub-groups compared were matched for mean age and socio-economic status. It was found that the intercorrelations between body build, personality and type of mental illness were on the whole similar to those reported for Caucasians.

The Ryle Marital Patterns Test measures the affection and domination aspects of marriage. Its original administration illustrated a partial association between poor marital adjustment (as measured by low affection scores and non-egalitarian domination scores) and neuroticism (as measured by CMI score). The present paper confirms these associations using a group of suburban women defined as neurotic by their GP. Related studies suggest similar patterns.

This paper reports on the clinical status, help-seeking and subsequent treatment experiences of 150 women one year after they had completed out-patient maintenance treatment by amitriptyline and/or psychotherapy for a depressive episode.

While the majority of patients were asymptomatic at follow-up, a substantial minority had a return of acute symptoms and 2 per cent made minor suicide attempts during the year. Admission to hospital was rare. However, only 30 per cent of the patients did not seek any treatment during the year and the majority received some psychotropic medication.

The findings support the long-term need for prompt access to treatment by patients who have recovered from an acute depression.

The author studied the significance of ethnic origin and immigrant status in attempted suicide. Epidemiological data (1969–72) indicated that self-poisoning among West Indian immigrants in Birmingham was less prevalent than among natives there but more prevalent than in the West Indies. The association of recent pregnancy with attempted suicide among young immigrant patients was noteworthy.

Attempted suicide among immigrants was often relatively benign; few abused alcohol or drugs or made repeated attempts. The markedly lower male rate of attempted suicide, and its rarity in older persons, confirms previous findings.

Thirty-six children between the ages of 2 and 17 bereaved by the suicide of a parent were followed up after 5 to 7 years. The children's home life before bereavement had been abnormal because of mental illness, and family disruption and pre-suicide stresses were significantly related to present functioning. An incidence of psychological morbidity greater than that of a comparison group was observed. Some children appear to cope with the experience of parental suicide without serious consequences; for a few there was relief from an insupportable situation.

In an effort to examine the placebo, psychological deterrent, and pharmacological deterrent effects associated with implanted disulfiram, subjects were given either disulfiram implants or sham operations. Ethanol challenges elicited no disulfiram-ethanol reactions (DERs), indicating that at the time of the challenge neither a pharmacological deterrent nor a placebo effect was operating. Of the patients who resumed drinking, only those with disulfiram implants experienced DERs. Sham operation subjects continued to drink after their first post-challenge drink; four of five disulfiram implant recidivists remained abstinent following their experience of a DER. It is concluded that the pharmacological deterrent effect of the disulfiram implant may have been underestimated in previous reports.