Experienced reality in somatic patients more that 65 years old. A comparative study of disturbed and clear, but demented states of consciousness.
A Myscheitzky
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica October 1976 DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1976.tb00116.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational comparative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Patients with dementia, 15 in clear states of consciousness and 15 in disturbed states of consciousness |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key findings | Patients with dementia in disturbed states of consciousness showed many more abnormal reality qualities than those in clear states, and were far more likely to experience non-existent fantasy items as real; the authors suggest this difference may be useful for differential diagnosis if confirmed in other patient samples. Positive sensation qualities were attached to absent items even in patients not clinically hallucinating. |
Abstract
Eight experienced qualities of reality were examined in relation to five sorts of experience in 15 demented patients in clear states of consciousness (the CSC group), and in 15 patients in disturbed states of consciousness (the DSC group). Many more abnormal reality qualities appeared in the DSC than in the CSC group. In the DSC patients the tendency to experience non-existent fantasy items as being real was so much greater than in the CSC patients that it will be of value in differential diagnosis if it is confirmed in other patient materials. In DSC patients, furthermore, positive qualities of sensation were found attached to many experiences of items which were not present in the actual stimulus fiels - even in patients who were not clinically hallucinated. The reliability of the results was controlled by having each patient evaluated by two psychiatrists.