Mental Disease and Deject 



33 



had typhoid at six. followed by spinal meningitis, after which 

 seizures developed. She is sullen and quiet until crossed, then 

 becomes violent and hard to manage. She is unable to work long 

 in one place, tells many untrue stories, is shrewd and perhaps 

 immoral. She prefers working in hotels, restaurants, or five-and- 

 ten-cent stores where ''there are lots of people and excitement". 

 Institutional care for her is greatly desired by her sister, who 

 can no longer control her. 



Will G. is a wanderer, age thirty-seven, who claims to have no 

 home nor near relatives. He was born in the city, but lived for 

 many years in a neighboring small town. Tiring of an uneventful 

 life there, he left and has lived in many cities for short periods. 

 He has been a victim of epilepsy since a boy and was recently in 

 a hospital for several weeks suffering from exhaustion following 

 frequent and severe seizures. 



The epileptic is unable to compete with his fellows in indus- 

 try. He is excluded from many trades or kinds of work because 

 of his disease and is unable to hold any kind of job for an extended 

 period of time. This fact alone makes him socially out of adjust- 

 ment and in need of aid and supervision. Of these 67 persons 

 studied, 31 were known to other social agencies. Only five agen- 

 cies are mentioned: township trustees, charity organizations, 

 the Children's Aid Association, Public Health Nursing x\ssocia- 

 tion, and the Department of School Attendance. There is no 

 record of a court case, altho 1 individual is listed as criminal. 



The school history shows that 10 individuals reached the fifth 

 grade or above, 1 was in high school, while 16 did not go beyond 

 the fourth grade. Several were below school age and many were 

 never able to attend school because of physical or mental defect. 



There are 6 males and 7 females who are listed as violent; 

 5 are said to have excessive appetites — a frequent symptom of the 

 disease. This is one of the things which may be discovered by the 

 social worker and will aid the doctor in making diagnosis. It 

 is difficult to get a true account of the number of attacks within 

 a given time, but the records on these patients show 8 having daily 

 seizures, 1 having one seizure a week, 1 having a seizure every 

 two weeks, 1 having a seizure every three weeks, 4 having seizures 

 once a month, and 2 whose seizures are less frequent than once 

 a month. 



Anna M. is a child of nine years who became so violent that 

 she is placed temporarily in an insane hospital, pending the erec- 



