Richard C. Fowler

Suicide Over 60: The San Diego Study

Objectives: To see if selected clinical factors characterize suicides over the age of 60 differently from younger suicides and to ascertain if those factors characterize female and male suicides over the age of 60 differently.

Familial differences in schizophrenia with good and poor prognosis.

Probands with schizophrenia of good and poor prognosis were selected according to defined criteria. Families were investigated blindly. The families with poor prognosis contained significantly more schizophrenia, neurosis, and overall illness, but less affective disorder than the families with good prognosis.

Alcoholism, depression, and life events

Alcoholics with and without secondary depression were compared on a wide variety of clinical variables. Subjects with secondary depression reported more fights, arrests, neurotic complaints, suicidal behavior, and recent undesirable life events than subjects with alcoholism alone. The data indicate a close relationship between negative events and the secondary depression of alcoholism. In addition, the findings suggest that the alcoholic with secondary depression is at greater risk for suicide than the alcoholic without a depressive syndrome.

Substance Abuse and Suicide of San Diego Study

AbstractWe investigated 283 suicides in San Diego between November 1981 and June 1983. The first 204 cases were collected consecutively. The next 79 were consecutive cases under age 30. The sample consisted, then, of three separate but overlapping consecutive series: 133 cases under age 30, 150 cases age 30 and over, and 204 cases of all ages.Overall, substance abuse/dependence was diagnosed in about two thirds of the cases, both over and under age 30. Depressive disorders were most commonly diagnosed in association with substance abuse (SA) in both age groups. Many other disorders also accompanied SA. There were significantly more diagnoses of “drug” abuse among the younger cases than among the older suicides. The frequency of alcohol abuse was the same.There were no significant differences in the rates of SA between the men and women in the 204 consecutive cases. Of the 45 suicides with psychotic disorders in the consecutive series, more than half (62%) were also substance abusers. Of the 15 cases who h...

Communication of suicidal intent and suicide in unipolar depression. A forty year follow-up

Abstract Two hundred and 25 unipolar depressives hospitalized during the 1930s were classified on the basis of documented communication of suicidal intent. A long term follow-up revealed 15 of the former patients had died by suicide. Communicated suicidal intent was documented in the index hospital record of all 15. The presence of communicated intent may distinguish a group of unipolar depressives at risk for suicide from those not at risk.

NON‐PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS IN THE FAMILIES OF PROCESS SCHIZOPHRENICS

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis of “schizophrenic spectrum” disorders. The families of 60 process schizophrenics were systematically interviewed with structured interview forms, and evaluated for psychiatric illness according to strict diagnostic criteria The interviewed persons were then separated into two groups for comparative analysis according to a positive (FH+) or negative (FH‐) family history for schizophrenia. The frequencies of affective disorder and all non‐psychotic conditions did not differ to a convincingly significant degree between the two groups. Our data thus fail to support the “schizophrenic spectrum” hypothesis in which neurosis and sociopathy occur as a consequence of a genetic loading for schizophrenia.

Photoplethysmometry and thermography in Raynaud's disorders. A preliminary report.

The purpose of this study is to consider photoelectric plethysmometry (PEP) in the evaluation of Raynaud’s Disorders. In a previous paper (1), we demonstrated the usefulness of thermography in similar conditions, but the cost of instrumentation was regarded as a deterrent to its widespread usefulness. Historically, PEP has not been widely used medically, in spite of its apparent simplicity and low cost. Many of the problems were recognized early in the development of PEP, especially by Hertzmann (2). Frequent use has been made of the technique in psychology as has been reviewed by Weinman (3). Stimultaneous investigation of thermography and photoelectric plethysmometry has been reported by ‘Vouda (4). In spite of a number of problems reviewed in the discussion which follows, it appears that the method shows sufficient promise to warrant further investigation. To suggest a more guarded attitude regarding the exact measurement recorded, the term plethysmometry is used herein instead of a more usual, plethysmography.