ADOLESCENT PSYCHOSES AND FATE OF PATIENTS WITH MENTAL DISEASE

The psychoses of adolescence 1 are important chiefly because, during this age period, the first manifestations of two mental clinical syndromes appear. The incidence of psychoses rises from the age of 15, before which time psychoses are infrequent. According to Dawson, the history of some adolescent psychoses indicates that a change in disposition may occur several years before hospitalization becomes necessary. The balance during adolescence between biologic urge and control by the higher centers is precarious. Probably some forms of adolescent instability are due to unequal development of the controlling and impulsive mechanisms. Growth should be full of effort. The quiet, passive adolescent is the one who seems most likely to develop the more serious psychoses.

Apart from the delirium that may accompany an acute infective illness, the more lengthy clouding of consciousness that goes by the name of confusion is not a common occurrence in adolescence. In most cases