As part of a survey of agoraphobic women in the general population, it was found that school phobia occurred in their children to a greater extent than would be expected. The average incidence in children aged 11 to 15 was 14 per cent. The women with school phobic children had had school phobia themselves to an undue extent.

According to the medical model of the disease concept, a class of patients is homogeneous only when it is characterized by manifestations which have their ultimate intra-organismic origin in a particular kind of physiopathological cause. Most patient classes are still heterogeneous because we are still ignorant of that cause.

The medical model can be applied to the subdivision of all classes of patients, including classes of non-organic psychiatric patients. However, the successful application of the medical model depends on the acquisition of knowledge of relevant physiopathological facts. It is argued that the dimensional model of evaluating psychological abnormalities is not likely to help in acquiring that knowledge.

Hyperkinetic movement disorders may occur as side effects of antipsychotic drugs; and a hyperdopaminergic state induced by the neuroleptic compounds is thought to be a cause of extrapyramidal disorders such as tardive dyskinesia. We have observed two cases of the dyskinetic syndrome in patients receiving tricyclic antidepressants (TCA). Because the TCA are known to have little effect on striatal dopamine but do share with the neuroleptics potent anticholinergic activity, these cases appear to support the hypothesis that the drug-induced hyperkinetic disorders are related to a diminution of CNS acetylcholine activity as well as to an increase in dopamine activity.

The Symptom-Sign Inventory was administered to 57 long-stay psychiatric in-patients with the object of selecting a group of questions which would stimulate the production of delusional or other psychotic material. The scoring of the responses as positive was made on verbal affirmative and other specific behaviours which were thought to indicate emotional impact. It was found that the ten questions selected compared favourably with longer questionnaires in discriminating schizophrenic from normal subjects and from those with organic brain disease. It is suggested that these questions might be included in brief assessment interviews on which day-to-day management decisions are made.

Significant sibling-sibling and within-family correlations of human red blood cell catechol-o-methyl transferase activity have suggested a high degree of genetic control over levels of activity of this catecholamine-related enzyme. However, family studies do not disentangle genetic from environmental similarities as causative of within-family correlations. We therefore undertook a human twin study using the monozygotic-dizygotic comparison method. Twelve pairs of monozygotic twins had an intraclass correlation of .90 in red blood cell catechol-o-methyl transferase activity, and seven pairs of dizygotic twins had an intraclass correlation of .37. Heritability of the enzyme activity was estimated by different methods as between 68–100 per cent.

An inquiry was made of all women senior registrars in general psychiatry who were known to be planning to remain in psychiatry in this country. Most were hoping to work full or maximum part-time, and all except one were aiming for a consultant appointment in general psychiatry or one of the specialties. Many anticipated difficulties in realizing their ambitions because of being tied to one particular area on account of their husbands' employment. A number of solutions to this problem are suggested.