Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 1.djvu/27

 PSYCHO-ANALYTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON TIC 19

The tic malady attacks children as a rule in the sexual latency period, when the tendency for other psycho-motor disturbances {e. g. Chorea) also occurs. It can have various outcomes, apart from remissions, remaining stationary or degenerating into the symptom-complex described by Gilles de la Tourette. To judge by a case that I was able to investigate psycho-analytically, the motor over-sensitiveness can be compensated for in later years by an over-strong inhibition ; such as in neurotics who are conspicuous for their excessive caution, exactness and ponderous form of gait and movement.^

The authors state that there are also attitude-tics, that is no longer the lightning-like clonic convulsions but tonic rigidity in particular attitudes of the head or a limb. There is no doubt that these cases are transitional between cataclonic and catatonic innervation. Meige and Feindel themselves say explicitly : These phenomena (tonic or attitude tic) approximate nearer to the catatonic attitudes, the pathogenesis of which shows many points of contact with that of attitude-tic ! (Meige and Feindel, p. 136.) This is a characteristic example : S. had a "Torticollis" (attitude-tic) towards the left He set up a considerable muscular resistance to every effort one made to bend his head towards the right. But if one talked to him and occupied his attention during the experiment little by little his head would become quite free and one could turn it in any direction without using any force (Meige and Feindel, p. 136).

Towards the end of the book it appears that one of the authors (H. Meige) even recognised the essential equality of Catatonia and Tic. He mentioned his idea in a paper read before the Inter- national Medical Congress at Madrid in 1903. ("L'aptitude catatonique et l'aptitude echopraxique des tiqueurs"). The translator refers to the contents of this paper as follows : "If one examines a number of tic patients the following conclusions are arrived at which are not without interest for the pathogenesis of the trouble . . . Many tic patients incline in the most extraordinary manner to retain positions that their limbs adopt or in which they are placed. It is therefore a question of Catatonia. At times this is so strong as to impede an examination of the tendon-reflexes and in several cases to simulate a failure of the knee-jerk. The question has in

» On this "action-anxiety" see "On Obscene Words", Contributions to Psycho-Analysis.