This paper reports and discusses the occurrence of transvestism in three members of the same family, over two generations. No similar series of cases has been found in the literature. Lukianowicz, in his survey of the subject, mentions two cases in which there was a suspicion of transvestite tendencies in another member of the family. Taylor and McLachlan mention that two brothers of one transvestite in their series were said to have symptoms similar to those of the patient. They located one of the two, but decided not to include him in their series because “his cross-dressing was not without strong and persistent criminal motives. He posed as a prostitute and carried a weapon with him to assault his ‘customers' before robbing them.”

A family with a multigenerational history of proven or suspected early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) consistent with autosomal-dominant inheritance is described. To date, the pedigree comprises five generations in which there are 13 known affected individuals. The mean age of onset of cognitive deficits in those for whom data are available (n = 11) is 47.6 (s.d. 3.0) years and the mean age of death (n = 10) is 58.8 (s.d. 4.0) years. The variability in the extent and quality of available data illustrates the diagnostic difficulties encountered in ascertaining such an extended pedigree, and the need for caution in interpreting the evidence.

A patient with chronic primary depersonalisation responded well to a combination of psychotherapy and abreaction.

A 48-hour rapid-cycling disorder in a patient with pre-existing cerebral sarcoidosis, not described previously, was similar to that of others in the literature in that the mood switching occurred during sleep. Although the condition is rare, its existence raises important questions regarding the neurophysiology of affective disorders in general.

It has been shown by Parkes (1) and other workers that about 45 per cent. of out-patient schizophrenics are unreliable at taking their phenothiazine medication. It is in this group that many relapse and require readmission to hospital. Kline (2) quotes that 20 per cent. of in-patients are also unreliable in this regard. With the advent of a long-action phenothiazine injection fluphenazine enanthate, control of these difficult patients may well prove more effective.

Using routine data from the Mental Health Enquiry, the work of two district general hospital (DGH) units and a mental hospital was examined. There was a marked difference in the way the two DGH units operated and between the way the mental hospital worked as support hospital or as independent complete in-patient service. The operational policy practised by psychiatrists is more important than the structure of the system. It is important to establish sensitive policies for a wide variety of organizational structures.

The study of the form and content of hallucinations remains a fascinating and intriguing one to all who are interested in psychopathology. In our present state of knowledge it provides the basis for experimental approaches to the aetiology of hallucinations. This paper is a brief review of the relationship between experimental and phenomenological approaches to the problem of hallucinations associated with organic cerebral lesions.

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain data on the influence of the subject's conscious knowledge of the content of a posthypnotic suggestion on obedience to that suggestion. Little information is available on this problem, which is one having obvious bearing on hypnotherapy. So that results could throw some light on the hypothesis that hypnosis can be explained as role-playing (Sarbin, 1950), a role-playing control group was employed.

Thirty-five people who had suffered a recent onset of symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were interviewed soon after being seen by a clinician, and again six months later. Symptom scores at the second interview were predicted by whether any plans subjects had formed by the first interview had gone wrong, by major non-health difficulties, and by internal, stable and global attributions made at the first interview about the event or difficulty that was most distressing before symptoms became severe.

In a study comparing depressive disorders detected in a field survey (n = 90) with patients referred to a specialist treatment setting (n = 63), the clinical features and demographic correlates of ‘cases' of affective disorders proved to be similar. However, those in treatment settings appeared to have more people achieving definite case status. Hospital-referred cases were also more likely than community cases to be older and single, and this difference persisted even after controlling for chronicity of symptoms.

Psychosis is reported following abrupt withdrawal of oestrogen and surgery for male-to-female sex reassignment. The resemblance of the patient's mental state to puerperal psychosis suggested a hormonal aetiology.

In a double-blind placebo controlled trial of oxypertine in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia, 33 patients with chronic schizophrenia received either oxypertine or placebo. At the end of eight weeks, the results showed that oxypertine was superior to placebo at a statistically significant level.

Over an 18 month period, 49 patients in a physical rehabilitation hospital were referred to an attached psychiatrist. Formal psychiatric disorder was uncommon, and the mood changes and behaviour disturbances observed often resulted from a poor adjustment to recent physical disability by patients or their families. The most important role of the psychiatrist in management was in helping rehabilitation staff use their own skills to deal effectively with the inevitable emotional disturbances which occur in this setting.

Long-term antiparkinsonian medication given to 20 mentally handicapped patients also on neuroleptics was abruptly withdrawn. Transient extrapyramidal signs developed in most patients during the following four weeks but in 60 per cent had disappeared by 12 weeks. Reintroduction of medication was necessary in only three patients, who developed acute dystonic reactions within one week of withdrawal.