Symptomatology, Psychognosis, and Diagnosis of Psychopathic Diseases

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SYMPTOMATOLOGY, DIAGNOSIS

OF

PSYCHOGNOSIS,

PSYCHOPATHIC

AND

DISEASES

WORKS

BY BORIS SIDIS

The Foundations of Normal Psychology

and Abnormal

The Psychology of Suggestion Multiple Personality Psychopathological

Researches

An Experimental Study of Sleep Philistine and Genius The Psychology of Laughter Symptomatology, Psychognosis, and nosis of Psychopathic Diseases The

Causation and pathic Diseases

Treatment

of

DiagPsycho-

Symptomatology,

and Diagnosis

Psychognosis,

of Psychopathic

Diseases BY

BORIS

SIDIS,

A. M., Ph.D., M.

D.

Medical Director of The Sidis Psychotherapeutic Institute

——

5

TE a

t Ts }

BOSTON: TORONTO:

RICHARD THE

COPP

G. BADGER

CLARK

CO.,

LIMITED

Copyright, All

THE

GORHAM

1914, by

Rights

PRESS,

Boris

Sidis

Reserved

BOSTON,

U

S.A

INTRODUCTION We are getting more and ance of the study of the mental life. The student of to realize the necessity of a

manifestations

of the

more awake to the importphenomena of abnormal normal psychology begins knowledge of the various

abnormal

mind,

both

conscious

and subconscious. The phenomena that lie on the borderland of what is regarded as normal mental activity are of great interest and importance, because, being deviations or variations from the normal and the familiar, they are apt to call attention to the mechanism, causation, and laws that govern mental activityin general, normal and abnormal, conscious and subconscious.

The normal psychologist has learned to pay attention to the facts of abnormal mental life, since a knowledge of them sheds a good deal of light on the various manifestations with which

he himself deals, manifestations

which have resisted psychological analysis, such as emotion, will, personality, and even such apparently simple mental functions as associative processes and perception. Not that the normal psychologist has not made important contributions to the understanding of all those processes, but many of the studies touched the surface, and did not penetrate deep into the subsoil of mental life, ints the subconscious activity where all the sources of mental life have their being, where mental processes have their origin, and whence all mental processes come to light in the focus of consciousness. The phenomena of memory are of vital importance

(4)

it

Introduction

in normal psychology, and while a good deal of work has been accomplished by the normal psychologist in this subject, and some far reaching laws, such as those of Ebbinghaus, have been formulated, still we are far from a real understanding of this fundamental function. In this respect abnormal psychology is of material help, on account of the great number of variations which that function presents to the psychopathologist. In fact, most of the studies of recent psychopathology may be regarded as researches in the domain of memory. From a certain standpoint psychopathic maladies may be regarded as affections of memory. Studies in abnormal psychology are thus of vital interest to the investigator in normal psychology. A study of the anaesthesias, abulias, amnesias is of consequence to a right understanding of memory and volitional activities; the phenomena of dissociation of personality or of multiple personality give an insight into the labyrinth of human personality, while dreams, illusions and hallucinations give a broad view and clear understanding of the various elements of perceptual processes. If, however, abnormal psychology is of importance to the normal psychologist from a purely theoretical standpoint, it is certainly of the utmost consequence to the medical profession.