240 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 175 



be returned to the reservation on a so-called "trial visit," which was eventually 

 changed into a formal discharge from the hospital as "recovered." 



Convalescence. — During the first weeks following his return to the reservation 

 Jchn still tired rather easily, but gave the impression of being fairly happy and 

 no longer psychotic in any respect. At the same time, those who knew him 

 best felt that he still was not quite "his own self." 



Recovery. — John's complete recovery, as distinct from a mere remission, ap- 

 I)ears to have been brought about by two, objectively very distinct, but psy- 

 chologically closely interrelated, events : 



(1) An extremely fortunate development in John's marriage strengthened 

 the very foundations of his union, put an end to the series of disappointments 

 which had precipitated John's psychosis and demonstrated in a conclusive man- 

 ner that he need not have blamed himself for the earlier disappointments. 



(2) John had one last — and this time near- fatal — accident, which differed 

 from his previous mishaps in one, descriptively minor but psychologically 

 highly significant, detail that mercilessly highlighted the unconscious purposive- 

 ness of his accident proneness. It occurred at a time when his reflexes were not 

 slowed down. This accident restricted John's behavior pattern in two ways : 



(a) The shock of this near-fatal accident had a sobering effect on John, who 

 suddenly realized that his next accident could very well be fatal and would 

 prevent him from enjoying the recent and long hoped-for improvement of his 

 marital situation. 



(6) The near fatal outcome of his last accident apparently made John feel 

 that he had, at long last, atoned for the father figure's death and was therefore 

 no longer obliged to follow him into the beyond.''' This, in turn, enabled him 

 to transform his infantile-oedipal commitments into mature ones, thereby achiev- 

 ing a genuine psychological adulthood. 



Degree and permanence of the recovery. — Today, several years after his dis- 

 charge from the hospital and his last accident, John is, in the very best sense, 

 once more his own self. He is no longer accident prone and shows no residual 

 psychic stigmata of any kind. He is the poised, effective, industrious, respons- 

 ible, and warmhearted head of a happy family and a useful and respected 

 member of the tribe, leading a calm and relatively uneventful life. These find- 

 ings suggest that he made a complete and permanent recovery, and oblige us to 

 reevaluate the diagnosis that had been made during his hospitalization. 



Diagnostic problems : 



Symptoms. — The hospital's diagnostician noted withdrawal and mutism, re- 

 sistiveness, catatonic posturing, bizarre behavior, and hallucinations. It is 

 likely that the degree of John's withdrawal and negativism was overestimated 

 by the diagnostician, who was probably unfamiliar with the Mohave Indian's 

 aloof distrust of whites. It is also possible that some of John's so-called 

 "catatonic posturings" were simply traditional Mohave kinesic patterns, which 

 probably included the distinctive and traditional Mohave sitting position 

 (Kroeber, 392.5 a), certain typical Mohave gestures (Devereux, 1949 b, 1951 c), 

 etc. The absence of any reference to "delusions" is, if possible, even 

 more significant, since the beliefs of Indian patients are very often listed by 

 diagnosticians as "delusions" (Devereux. 1951 a). Hence, the absence of any 

 reference to delusions strongly suggests that communication between John and 

 his diagnostician was quite minimal. 



f« Despite the marked tendency of Mohave suicides to occur In "clusters," no Mohave 

 ever tried to commit suicide twice. 



