Struck by a rifle butt on right side of head; old wound of right thigh: Hysterical right hemiplegia and deafmutism. Treatment by faradization: Return of speech and improvement of hearing. Full recovery by suggestion. Hysterical CONVULSIONS developed BY HETEROSUGGESTION from convulsive neighbor.
Case 551. (Arinstein, 1915.)
A Russian corporal, 21, was knocked unconscious, September 13, 1915, by a butt of a rifle which struck the right side of his head. He came to in a short time. He was examined in hospital, early in October, and besides a small skin wound of the head, there was evidence of a wound on the anterior aspect of the thigh. There was paralysis of both right arm and right leg, and anesthesia of the entire right side of the body, face and even of the tongue. There were also pains over the whole right side of the body. The abdominal reflexes were present on both sides; the tendon reflexes were in excess on the hemiplegic side; there were no pathological reflexes of any sort. The patient’s hearing was diminished, and he could not speak at all although he could understand the speech of others perfectly.
Speech returned after a single séance of suggestion with faradism to the throat. Hearing began to improve. The patient’s suggestibility was a favorable factor in his cure, but there were some unfavorable features. One day, he saw a neighbor go into convulsions and proceeded to develop convulsions himself. These hysterical convulsions continued. According to Arinstein, such undesirable complications appear under conditions of extreme crowding of hospital patients suffering from shell-shock. Progressive séances of psychotherapy caused the disappearance of all the signs of paralysis, and at the time of the report, there was no disability, except that the full use of the hand had not yet been regained.