Page:Jung - The psychology of dementia praecox.djvu/98

74 might just as well speak of it as of a "hysterical character" into which, as every one knows, all kinds of prejudices are smuggled, such as moral inferiority and many similar ones. Hysteria creates no character, but only exaggerates the already existing qualities. In hysteria we find all temperaments, we have the egotistic and altruistic personalities; criminals and saints, sexually excited and sexually frigid natures, etc. Indeed what really characterizes hysteria is the existence of powerful complexes which are incompatible with the ego-complex. Under the characteriological disturbances of dementia præcox we might mention the embellishment; that is, mannerism, affectation, mania for originality, etc. This symptom we frequently meet in hysteria and especially often whenever the patients think themselves out of their social element. This embellishment is especially frequently seen in the form of pretentious and studied behavior among women of a lower station coming in contact with those socially above them, such as dressmakers, maids, servants, etc.; also among men who are dissatisfied with their social standing and who are attempting to put on the appearance of those of a higher education and more imposing station. These complexes readily connect themselves with aristocratic gaits, with literary and philosophic enthusiasms and "original" views and expressions. They manifest themselves in exaggerated manners, and especially in studied speech, such as bombastic expressions, technical terms, affected eloquence and high-sounding phrases. We therefore find this peculiarity especially in such cases of dementia præcox as entertain any form whatsoever of the delusion of social elevation (Delir der Standeserhöhung of v. Krafft-Ebing).

In this case the disease takes over the mechanism from the normal, that is, from the caricature of the normal (hysteria), but the embellishment contains nothing specific in itself. Such cases show a special inclination to neologisms which are employed as learned or otherwise distinguished sounding technical terms. One of my patients named them "power-words" (Machtwörter) and showed a special liking for all possible peculiar expressions which to her seemed quite pregnant. The "power-words" serve to elevate and garnish the personality as much as possible. The expressive emphasis of the "power-words" accentuates the value of the personality against doubt and enmity,