Introduction

The Damm Family: Homeless in America

Discussion of a family made homeless by economic adversity raises questions about how to differentiate normal from abnormal adaptations to stress.

Wolf Madness

Lycanthropy (werewolfism) illustrates the influence of culture and religious factors on psychological diagnosis.

What Goes Around Comes Around: Witchcraft in America

A review of some of the clinical ramifications of ``recovery'' of memories of having been victims of ritual, bizarre, or satanic abuse during childhood.

Anna O. from Different Perspectives

A discussion of ways in which the first case described by Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer, the founders of psychoanalysis, would be understood by theoreticians of different persuasions. Psychological, biological and behavioral perspectives on the case are discussed.

The Office as Laboratory: Clinical Applications of the Experimental Method

How to interpret psychotherapy outcome research in choosing a treatment for depression.

Projective Test Protocols

Results from two types of projective tests, the Rorschach and the Thematic Apperception Tests, illustrate what these kinds of tests tell us about the person who completes them.

Dread of Church Steeples: Specific Phobia

A classical report of a patient with a phobia of church steeples demonstrates the psychology of phobias of uncommon situations and discusses the significance of common specific phobias such as fears of snakes and spiders.

The Hidden Crisis: Masked Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

How to recognize post-traumatic stress disorder when the symptoms are not obvious.

The Insistent Ideas of Miss M.: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

A classical case of obsessive-compulsive disorder described in the psychological literature illustrates typical symptoms and describes older and modern treatment approaches.

George's Magic Bullet: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

An unusual case of a man whose obsessive-compulsive disorder seems to have been cured by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Mr. P.'s Travels: Dissociative Fugue

The case of a man described around the turn of the century teaches us why people dissociate large segments of mental experience, sometimes forgetting who they are.

The Two Faces of Eve: Genuine and Pseudo Multiple Personality Disorder

Two patients with similar symptoms illustrate the difference between multiple personality disorder developing spontaneously and a condition that mimics multiple personality but actually is an entirely different condition.

Psychosomatic Medicine: The Mirsky Ulcer Study

A discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of one of the first formal studies to show that the mind can directly harm the body.

Hopelessness: The Interface between Research and Practice

The real-life complexities of research show how to decide whether hopelessness can make physical illness more dangerous.

Comprehensive Treatment of Unipolar Depression

A demonstration of cognitive and interpersonal therapies for depression.

Moods and Great Men: Bipolar Disorder

Descriptions of famous people who may have had bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder show us some of the ways in which mood influences public behavior.

Causative Factors and Outcome in Schizophrenia

A demonstration of the additive effects of psychotherapy, family therapy, and antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia.

The Genain Quadruplets: Schizophrenia

The interaction between genetic, environmental, and learned factors explains why four children who were genetically identical had drastically different forms of schizophrenia.

Does a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Tell the Whole Story?

The strengths and weaknesses of the modern diagnostic system are illustrated by the contrast between the diagnosis of the disorder based on signs and symptoms with an understanding of the person with the disorder.

Please Tread on Me: Paraphilia

The description of a classical paraphila (misdirected sexual desire) provides insight into the psychology and treatment of a group of disorders that impair sexual adaptation.

What's the Real Illness?

Just because homosexual patients consult therapists for emotional problems does not mean that being homosexual is the emotional problem. This case demonstrates that we should not attribute the cause of every symptom in a homosexual patient to the person's sexual orientation.

Famous Substance Abusers

What to do about substance-related disorders in famous people, colleagues, and friends.

Does Treating Stress Cure Alcoholism?

Does treating a second disorder in an alcoholic make the person stop drinking?

The Mask of Sanity: Antisocial Personality Disorder

A practical guide to the treatment of patients whose personality is organized around lack of loyalty to society, law, and other people.

The Agony and the Ecstasy: Borderline Personality Disorder

The life and death of poet Sylvia Plath illustrate the agony and self-hatred that reside at the core of a common personality disorder.

Predicting the Unpredictable: Childhood Emotional Disorders

A glimpse at the range of childhood disorders and their treatment illustrated by cases of childhood depression and childhood bipolar disorders.

The Hollow Idol: Anorexia Nervosa

A case of anorexia nervosa described 300 years ago illustrates the timelessness of what has been considered a modern disorder.

Nate G.: Down's Syndrome

Down's syndrome, a common cause of mental retardation, does not preclude living a rewarding and productive life. What are the clinical and ethical roadblocks to achieving this goal?

Mind and Brain: Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurological illness, is untreatable, but this does not mean that psychologists cannot make a substantial contribution to the quality of life of Alzheimer's patients.

Witty Ray: Tourette's Syndrome

Mind-body interactions in Tourette's disorder, a malfunction of movement centers in the brain with profound effects on the personality.

Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death: Involuntary Treatment

Philosophical debates about involuntary treatment become much more complex when dealing with patients who will die if they do not receive proper treatment. This case illustrates the legal and moral dimensions of the debate applied to a real patient.

Sale of the Century: Adversarial Psychology

How reliable is an expert opinion when the expert is paid by proponents of one side of a complex clinical issue?

So Many Psychotherapies, So Little Time

There is no single best treatment for most mental disorders and most of the time treatments are combined. This case illustrates a number of psychological, social, and biological approaches that could be used to cure anxiety.