I came across Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease within a few weeks of starting work in the neuropathological laboratories at the Maudsley Hospital. The time was the 1940's, and Alfred Meyer, who had known both Creutzfeldt and Jakob in Germany, had already published his study on the possible link between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (or spastic pseudosclerosis of Jakob as it was then called). Meyer's interest in the condition was therefore well known to British psychiatrists and neurologists, and patients who were thought to be suffering from this illness were referred to him. Routine post-mortem examinations would be duly carried out, perhaps by the psychiatric staff, and the brain, sometimes with the spinal cord, would be hardened in formalin and sent in a parcel to the Maudsley laboratories.

During a 6 year period (1970–75) 89 women charged with the killing or attempted murder of their children were examined in a female remand prison. Six types of maternal filicide were distinguished: battering mothers (36 cases), mentally ill mothers (24 cases), neonaticides (11 cases), retaliating mothers (9 cases), women who killed unwanted children (8 cases) and mercy killing (1 case). Types of filicide were compared on a number of social and psychiatric characteristics and on their offence patterns and court disposals. The operation of the Infanticide Act is discussed in the light of these findings.

A variety of depressive classifications were used to predict response to four weeks' treatment with phenelzine. Better response was found in outpatients rather than inpatients, in atypical depressives, in less severe depressives with a pattern of anxiety and other neurotic symptoms, and in groups characterized as hostile and agitated. The findings, although a little patchy, gave clear support to the concept of a specific clinical group responsive to MAO inhibitors.

The introduction of anaesthesia and muscle relaxation has made ECT relatively safe. In a retrospective study of the case notes of 367 consecutive patients receiving ECT over a two year period, chest X-ray and full blood count added no significant information and were ineffective in predicting morbidity, in contrast to physical examination alone.

The growth of speculative theories about response to physical illness has not been backed by quantitative information. The introduction of standardized measures of psychological and social adjustment has allowed description and analysis of disability for 100 patients and their spouses two and twelve months after a first myocardial infarction. (1) Global measures of social outcome were found to be inadequate and misleading and therefore work, leisure, marriage and family relationships, sex and compliance were separately examined. (2) There was considerable continuity in individual reactions throughout convalescence and it was possible (3) to identify factors in the premorbid psychosocial state predictive of outcome and (4) to describe characteristic patterns of coping. (5) Outcome for spouses can be similarly described and understood. The findings have clinical applications for diagnosis, prophylaxis, treatment and the evaluation of medical care. The conclusion also extend our understanding of the basic principles underlying response to physical illness.

Previous research has resulted in inconsistent findings regarding the predictability of schizophrenic speech samples. It was hypothesized that the predictability of schizophrenic speech varies as a function of clinically manifest thought disorder. In an experiment based on the Cloze procedure, raters were asked to predict ten passages of schizophrenic speech and eight passages of normal speech under conditions of fourth- and fifth-word deletion. Differences emerged between the samples only for the fifth-word deletion procedure. When the schizophrenic samples were grouped according to the presence of thought disorder, thought-disordered speech was significantly less predictable than normal and non-thought disordered schizophrenic speech. Furthermore, non-thought-disordered schizophrenic speech was no less predictable than normal speech. It is concluded that schizophrenia should be more carefully defined and that thought disorder should be routinely assessed in future investigations.

The relationship between mental status and community adjustment has been examined in 100 outpatient chronic schizophrenics. Sixty-six per cent presented at least one of the signs of Schneiderian First Rank Symptoms, which, however, failed to discriminate the diagnostic subgroups. Total adjustment correlated with total mental status and appeared to differentiate the diagnostic subclassifications of schizophrenia. From the major components of mental status, anxiety and depression appear to be significantly correlated with the functioning and stress of the individual in community adjustment while primary symptoms are only peripherally correlated with adjustment.

The 30-item General Health Questionnaire misclassified 26 per cent of respondents in two samples of women who were interviewed by a psychiatrist using the Present State Examination. False negatives were likely to be women with chronic disorders, particularly anxiety states. False positives were likely to be distressed by severe physical illness, a recent adverse life event, or loneliness. Applying a higher threshold score to their GHQ, responses would help to separate those with a diagnosable psychiatric disorder from those in states of distress.

Maxwell has proposed the Random Error Coefficient of Agreement (RE), as a measure of agreement for the binary case based upon the assumption of random distribution of questionable cases. The present paper presents a more general formula for RE's computation and shows how the new form is applicable to cases with more than two response categories.

This study examined the effects of desensitization, flooding and social skills training on social fears. The patients were 30 social phobics. All three treatments were associated with useful therapeutic gains during the period of treatment that were maintained over a six-month follow-up period. No differences were found between treatments.

A case of dependency on salbutamol inhalers has been described. This has been discussed in relation to abuse of other drugs by alveolar absorption and other effects of salbutamol. It is not known whether the dependency is due to the salbutamol itself or to the fluorinated hydrocarbons used as propellants.

This report describes 17 cases of chlormethiazole abuse or dependence. These include one case with symptoms and signs of withdrawal and two other similar cases where undoubted dependence was combined with excessive alcohol intake. Seven other patients with alcoholism who indulged in drug-seeking behaviour involving chlormethiazole are also reported, together with a further seven abusers of various other drugs who were also discovered to be taking chlormethiazole.

Five cases of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome occurring in the Chinese are described. The onset, course, symptomatology and family psychopathology are similar to those reported in Caucasians. On the parameters of APGAR score, psychological testing, EEG and psychiatric examination all had at least one abnormality. The response to haloperidol was uniformly good. Follow-up results showed that all were able to lead a fairly normal life after treatment. Though the cases are few in number, the findings seem to support the hypothesis that the syndrome has an organic substratum subject to psychological influences.

The rate of first-cousin marriages among the parents of schizophrenics was compared with a control group in an isolated highly inbred Sudanese community, no significant difference being found.

When asked by the book review editor to write an article discussing some ‘important, memorable, relevant, unusual or informative books (or articles)’ in the field of psychopharmacology, I was uncertain quite what was wanted.