tupor tendency to apathy with the mood of another reaction is probably
the only combination of affects to be met with in psychiatry.

The stupor reaction, then, is a simple regression, with a limitation of
energy, emotion and ideational content, the last being confined to
notions of death. All functional psychoses are regressions. How do the
others differ from this? We need only answer this question in so far as
it concerns the clinical states resembling benign stupors. Stupors occur
frequently in catatonic dementia praecox. In this disease there is a
regression of interest to primitive fantastic thoughts, and with this a
perversion of energy and emotion. This corrupts the purity of the stupor
picture so that inconsistencies, such as empty giggling, atypical
delusions and scattered speech, occur. Other impurities are to be found
in the frequent orientation of the dementia praecox stupor patient which
is discovered to be astonishingly good, or in free speech associated
with apathy and inactivity. Such symptoms usually appear quite early and
should enable one to make a positive diagnosis within a short time after
patient comes under observation. As a matter of fact, in many if not
most cases there is a slow onset characterized by the pathognomonic
symptoms of dementia praecox before the actual stupor sets in.

Other psychoses superficially resembling stupor are the perplexity and
absorbed manic (manic stupor) states. We have reason to believe that
both these conditions are essentially the result of absorption in
kaleidoscopic ideas. Their appearance is that of inactivity and
indifference to the outside world, just as a dreamer seems placid and
apathetic. But these reactions are not without emotion which may
sometimes be obvious, and the richness of the mental content is sooner
or later manifest.

Finally, from a practical standpoint, an important peculiarity of benign
stupor is the tendency for response to stimulation in amelioration of
the process. Close attention to these patients is advisable, therefore,
not merely for the sake of their physical health, but also because any
attention tends to keep them mentally alive or revive their waning
energy. Visits of relations often initiate recovery in a striking way.
From occurrences such as these, psychiatrists should gain hints for
valuable therapeutic experiments.

So much for the technical, psychiatric aspects of the stupor problem. We
have frequently spoken of it, howe