HYSTERIA AND THE SURGEON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8316, 15 May 1905, Page 1

HYSTERIA AND THE SURGEON.

HOW IMAGINARY OPERATIONS

ARE PERFORMED.

(Tit-Bdi.)

You will probably be surprised to learn, remarked the house surgeon' of a big hospital (not in the United Kingdom), that there are many sane people to-day who, believing that they are threatened with some dangerous disease, insist , on undergoing severe operations .in order that their lives may be saved. Of course, we do not really perform these operations, but I • have assisted' at many imaginary ones in order to gratify the whim of a patient suffering from some form of hysteria.

- I reriieniber a recent case of a woman who was 'absolutely convinced that she was suffering from an internal tumour. Curiously enough, she said she had been operated on for this complaint some eight years before, when a large ./tumour was removed. Six months ago she received a fright through one of her children upsetting a lighted lamp, and when she had somewhat recovered she became convinced that a recurrence of her trouble had begun, and that the onlyjthing to sav/e-.'her life was an immediate operation. "•• ■ '.'■',; She consulted her own physician, : declared tshat there' was -feDsrotree^il 1 %&•* .thing: to fear and that there was no trace whatever of the 1 supposed tumour. Nevertheless, the wqman, who was possessed of considerable means, consulted another physician, who upheld the, opinion of his brother medico. The, woman was still unconvinced, however, and applied to us for a bed as paying patient, '* entered the hospital, and begged that the operation might be immediately performed. . Well, we had, of course, received particulars of the case from the two physicians, and after examination, and with , their permission, declared that the operation was. certainly neoessary and should be performed without delay.

;: ; With the assistance jf>f two of the visiting surgeons, I deterinined to perform the operation in imagination, and this is how we did it. The patient was given just a sufficient quantity of anaesthetic's to reduce her to a state of semiconsciousness—she could hear and feel vaguely, though she could see nothing. We moved about the room quietly, spoke in whispers, gave hurried orders to the nurses, etc., and, in fact, acted just as though were were engaged on the biggest operation of our lives. Then one of the assistants fetched a jug of iced water, and, holding it above the supposed, affected part, let the cold fluid fall at the rate of about one drop every five seconds. When the .water touched her body the deluded patient would wince and groan as though in great agony. . . ■ „ After we had gone on m this war tor some time the woman was swathed in bandages and conveyed, by ambulance to her room. On awakening, she found two trained nurses creeping about the apartment, one of whom immediately held a cup of beef tea, to her lips and asked her to try and swallow a little. After a considerable e^^T^t ed, confiiding to the nurse the J«*™"» ed confiding to the nurse the fact that There she rlmained for ten days, after which she was allowed to get up for a time, and her friends were permitted to see her In three weeks she returned 'Sne perfectly cured of her , imaginary tumour,, and to this day she does not know of the hoax which was played "^Sa, of course, is the , cause of these imaginary illnesses, and when a patie-nt has it badly, it is almost as difficult to cure as insanity. We had a young girl here a year ago who was suffering from a most obstinate attack of hysteria, which took a very ' curious form. She would never lie down m her bed, but invariably sat bolt upright, with her back against the foot-rail, corstantly turning her head from side to side like an automaton. I had watched her do this curious action riiany, times, and one day I asked her why she continued it, to which she replied that there was a string in her head which pulled it from side to side, end that until it was cut she would have ho rest '

This remark gave me an idea, and I asked her if she would allow me to examine her head. -She was perfectly willing, and after an inspection lasting twenty minutes I gravely announced that she was quite right, and that the only cure was a slight operation, in order to sever the string. She clapped her hands with, delight like a child, and declared that it was what she. had told several doctors, but that they had all laughed at hen Would I perform tho operation at once? I thought it better, however, to defer doing so until the. morning, after I had "consulted " the visiting surgeonsHaving explained the circumstances, the ' imaginary operation was agreed upon, and the following morning the youhflc woman was led into the sur-

gery, placed upon the operating table, and anaesthetics administered, raxx, vi her luxuriant brown hair was cut ott, and a portion of the back of the neaa, about Sin above the nape of the nejjc, was shaved smooth. Then, «J ordei that there should be something to show for the imaginary operation, tne scalp was lanced until the blood ran, leaving a cut about 2*in in l f^ t ' n - This was bound, but not strapped, ana the patient conveyed back to her bed, where she' remained for forty minutes before returning consciousness. Meantime I had taken a piece or an ordinary E violin string, about 4m long, and Boaked it in water unul it resembled a raw sinew, the object or this, of course, being to show the patient the actual string taken out oi her head. . • J When she was restored to consciousness she was told how entirely successful the operation had been, and shown the string which had been the cause of all her trouble, after which she fell into a natural sleep, and awoke perfectly restored. From that day to this she has. never suffered from hysteria in any form, and she has been completely cured of her hallucination regarding her inability to keep her head from moving from side to side. Innumerable people imagine that they are s.iffering from appendicitis, s-nd rxany an operation for this complaint has taken place when there was absolutely no necessity. In connection with this disease, however, there is; one thing in favour of operating, and that is when there is no necessity for removing the appendix, and it is, in conseqience, in a perfectly healthy condition; then there is no danger of bloodpcisoning, for the operation is, in itself, one of the simplest in the whole arnals of surgery. We 1 had a patient here just about the time King Edward was so ill, who insisted that he was suffering from appendicitis, and that if Tve didn't operate on him he would. be,dead in a" week. Well, the entire staff of surgeons inside the hospital and out examined him, and found that there was net the slightest trace of appendicitis, but so convinced was the patient that he was suffering from the popular disease that, ia order to ease his mind, we performed an imaginary operation, and the man is going about to-day in the blissful belief that he is minus his appendix, and, therefore, proof against appendicitis.

Yes,_ it is wonderful how strong a thing imagination can 1 become, and how easy it is to fool a man (pr woinaii either) into the belief that he has undeigone a serious operation for an im.aginary disease.