Mental Derangements

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 16, 18 April 1907, Page 13

Mental Derangements

A recent sensational trial in New York showed how hopelessly at variance were the opinions of mental experts, who were called as. witnesses. There was a to.tal absence of agreement amongst them as to what" constituted mental derangement. J^ow there are three words which refer to mental derangements, and their meaning is not always clearly understood by -the bulk of -the public. These words are. hallucination, illusion, and'delusion. An hallucination (says a writer in an English magazine) is a mental condition where one imagines he sees some-thing, or hears something, or - touches something, or tastes something, -when there is in reality 'no external If oundation for his supposition. In cases of hallucination ,a man imagines he sees people, or animals, or venomous reptiles., near him or moving towards •him. Nothing of the sort exists. It is simply a disordered condi tdon of his own mind< The brain cells which would naturally be affected by such sights, are thrown into functional activity by some congestion or irritation inside of the brain. He thinks he sees these things, but there is no cause except such cause as exists in his own brain. Such condition is properly cailled hallucination. — . -

An illusion is slightly different from hallucination. In ' cases of illusion, the victim does really see. some thing. He sees a cciw, for instance, and imagines it is aj'b&ar." He sees the moon, and imagines it 'is a ball of fire. He sees a moonbeam shining on the wall or on the carpet, and imagines it *s a ghost. An illusion, therefore, is a mistaken notion of- wlvat one really does see. There is some ground for an illusion, external to the . patient's mind.

As to the word delusion, this word is entirely different from hallucination or illusion. Delusion 4 is a." false conception. The subject may see things-exactly as they are. He may not be troubled with hallucinations or illusions at all. But he makes a wrong inference from what he sees. He sees two people talking together, very busily, very earnestly, and imagines they are talking about' him, and- becomes afraid. This is a delusion. There is an eclipse of the sun or moon, and he imagines the world is coming tci an end. That is a delusion. He is subject to somnambulistic conditions of mand, in which he has mental experiences quite out of the ordinary, and he imagines that he is inspired. Ihis is a delusion. A delusion, therefore is a talse - inference from things -which may be correctly perceived A delusion is false reasoning. An illusion is a false inference from what is seen. An hallucination is a false perception of some kind. In cases of hallucination the perceptions are fictitious. In illusion the conclusions reached from .perceptions are faulty.^ln delusions "the reasoning faculties are absolutely untrustworthy Many people who are considered perfectly sane are subject more or less to hallucinations, or illusions or delusions. It is only when such people become misohaevous or dangerous to themselves or others that they _ are judged as insane. Both inside and outside of the insane asylum are to be found many people whose ' only lault is that ,they reason wrongly fro-m what they Se t' 4- *lz te l are Cllher P e °P le who realty do not see what they think they see. Traced back to their real origin, a ll these conditions are "diseases just as much as dyspepsia - and Bright' s-^ £2! .5° diseases. They should De treated as dis- ' SSStK?.^ 6 Vlctun ° f them the same conznr^SLZ m ' miVy aS " he were^apcted with