Læknablaðið - 01.06.1961, Blaðsíða 54

82
LÆKNABLAÐIÐ
sons why I want to include tlie
histories of these last two pati-
ents, a man of 52 and a woman
of 57; the latter obviously
severly ill from the age of one
and a half, and tlie man very
obviously ill from age 20 and
no doubt earlier. Both liave had
many years of treatment and
many therapists. The man’s
therapy extends over 30 j'ears
and the woman’s over 37. As
years of illness and therapy
passed, even the most experí-
enced and optimistic therapist
would not have dared an even
cautious favorable prognosis.
In the late spring of 1957 an
almost sudden change occurred
in the man with steady solid
improvement to date. An even
more dramatic change occurred
in tlie woman in January 1958.
Since then she has had three
periods of improvement, each
one more solid than tlie previ-
ous one and eacli one followed
hy a relapse.
In 1928, when 20, while in a
theater, Franlc went into a
panic. By 25 he 'had been in
two mental hospitals, treated by
a number of psychitatrists and
diagnosed schizoprenia. I first
saw him in 1937, after 3 years
of analytic therapy. The picture
was that of a chronic schizo-
phrenic panic. Up to 1946 I saw
him three times weekly and
once a week thereafter. He
married in 1941. His wife died
of cancer in 1944 leaving him
a small estate. From 1942
through 1945 he held the first
job in his life. Ile married again
in 1945 and is still married to
the same woman. He did not
work from 1945 to 1947, when
he got a joh as a professional
writer, in which field lie made
steady advancement. In 1951 he
took an even better job in a
highly competitive field. Within
six months lie went to pieces
and had to quit. By the fall
of 1952 he said he was as sick
as he had ever 'been and should
he in a hospital. The picture
looked almost identical with
that obtained in 1937. That
winter I had to be abroad for
a month. Because I knew he
needed help I referred him to
another therapist, who after six
months said he could not work
with him. In the sumer of 1953
he began and continued work-
ing with still another therapist
through the fall of 1957. I knew
in detail about his progress
from a number of sources,
through his telephone calls to
me, during his therapy with the
otlier two analysts and since,
and through visits to me about
twice yearly since 1957.
IJis second therapist told me
lliat she began to note a change
in him about the fall of 1956.
He hecame aware of it by the
spring of 1957. As he experi-
enced it, a sudden marked