Question 1#

Which one of the following was a proponent of humane and moral treatment of insanity?

A. Anton Mesmer

B. Phillipe Pinel (1745–1826) was working at Salpetriere in Paris at the time of the French Revolution. He insisted on releasing patients from chains in asylums, emphasized systematic clinical observations using case records and championed humane treatment of the mentally ill. Anton Mesmer was a proponent of mesmerism, a form of clinical suggestion. Jacques Lacan is known as the ‘French Freud’. Melanie Klein was an object relations theorist.

Reference:

1. Gelder MG et al., eds. New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 17.

Question 2#

Morel was a French–Austrian physician associated with the term demence precoce.

He is also associated with which of the following theories?

A. Regeneration theory

C. Degeneration theory maintained that most forms of insanity resulted from continuous deterioration of mental faculties. More alarmingly, it also stated that hereditary transmission of nervous dysfunction was produced by noxious environmental factors. Morel was the proponent of degeneration theory.

Reference:

1. Gelder MG et al., eds. New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2000, p.19.

Question 3#

Neurasthenia was originally described by which one of the following?

A. Beard

A. American neurologist, Beard, described neurasthenia in 1880. This is retained in the ICD-10, and is the closest diagnosis to the present day chronic fatigue syndrome. Various terms, including myalgic encephalomyelitis and viral fatigue syndrome, are in vogue in an attempt to emphasize infectious/ inflammatory origin of this illness.

Reference:

1. Gelder MG et al., eds. New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 21.

Question 4#

Inducing malarial fever was proposed as a treatment for which of the following diseases?

A. Hysteria

D. General paresis or paralysis of the insane (GPI, also called as paralytic dementia) is a rare encephalitic illness. GPI was common in the past due to syphilis. Malaria therapy for GPI was proposed by Wagner von Jauregg, a Nobel laureate. Manic presentation was common in GPI. GPI has almost disappeared now, though with the rising HIV pandemic it is speculated to have resurgence in the future.

Reference:

1. Gelder MG et al., eds. New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 21.

Question 5#

Which one of the following hormones was used to induce coma in the treatment of schizophrenia?

A. Thyroxine

D. Insulin coma therapy for severe mental illness was introduced by Sakel in 1933. This was a potentially fatal treatment complicated by seizures and encephalopathy. Chemically induced seizures were also employed around the same period (von Meduna) for treating schizophrenia.

Reference:

1. Gelder MG et al., eds. New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 21.