Davis G
School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Old Medical Quad, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK.
J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2012;42(3):266-73. doi: 10.4997/JRCPE.2012.316.
General paralysis of the insane (GPI) was one of the most devastating diseases observed in British psychiatry during the century after 1840, in terms of the high number and type of patients diagnosed, the severity of its symptoms and, above all, its utterly hopeless prognosis. With particular reference to the physicians and patients of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, this article explores the diagnostic process and the social and medical significance of the 'death sentence' that accompanied the GPI diagnosis.
在1840年之后的一个世纪里，麻痹性痴呆是英国精神病学中观察到的最具毁灭性的疾病之一，就被诊断患者的数量和类型、症状的严重程度，尤其是其完全无望的预后而言。本文特别提及爱丁堡皇家疯人院的医生和患者，探讨了诊断过程以及伴随麻痹性痴呆诊断而来的“死刑判决”的社会和医学意义。
