sodium-ethylxanthate and Hallucinations

Topics: Dexamethasone; Female; Glucocorticoids; Hallucinations; Humans; Perineum; Pruritus; Sex

A 42-year-old woman underwent outpatient surgery to remove vocal cord polyps. She had a history of depressive syndrome and had previously undergone surgery without complications. Before surgery she received 3.5 mg of midazolam orally. General anesthesia was provided with propofol: one initial bolus of 1 mg/kg followed by an infusion of 6 mg/kg/h. Surgery was uneventful. Upon arrival in the postanesthetic recovery ward, the patient, greatly agitated, accused the orderlies pushing the gurney of forcing her to touch his genitals. Twenty-four hours after surgery she did not remember the incident. Since 1987 various cases of postoperative sexual hallucination have been associated with the use of propofol. Usually the patients are women undergoing minor gynecological procedures and involve male health-care providers in the surgical area. The incidents are characteristically followed by amnesia. This clinical picture has also been described for midazolam and nitrous oxide, but the frequency is higher for propofol owing to its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties (rapidly recovered awareness and lowering of inhibition). Given the legal implications, the presence of someone of the same sex as the patient is recommended when the patient awakens.

Topics: Adult; Anesthetics, Intravenous; Female; Hallucinations; Humans; Propofol; Sex

This paper begins by examining the current conflicting points of view about metapsychology--its status, usefulness and explanatory power. The drive concept, the source of psychic dynamism, is identified at the core of the controversy. As a solution, the paper proposes a conceptual intensification afforded by the integration of consciousness into Freud's theory of the drive. With consciousness, I attempt to mine a deep vein of theory. Rather than being viewed as an inert accompaniment to organismic events, consciousness is exhibited as an inherent dialectical activity. This allows a non-metaphorical conceptualization of psychic energy that is consistent both internally and with physical law. This drive concept is then applied to the putative experience of earliest infancy and provides a basis for the anaclitic origin of sexuality and a critique of current infant research.

Topics: Consciousness; Drive; Hallucinations; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Perception; Psychoanalytic Theory; Reflex; Self Concept; Sex

Topics: Adult; Brain; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Female; Hallucinations; Humans; Middle Aged; Orgasm; Sensation; Sex; Sex Differentiation; Temporal Lobe

Topics: Adult; Female; Hallucinations; Hearing; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychotic Disorders; Sex; Smell; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Taste; Touch; Vision, Ocular

Topics: Adult; Aging; Emotions; Female; Hallucinations; Hearing; Humans; Male; Pain; Personality; Schizophrenia; Sex; Smell; Thalamus; Vision, Ocular

Topics: Adult; Delusions; Hallucinations; Humans; Interview, Psychological; Male; Schizophrenic Psychology; Sex; Sexual Behavior

Topics: Aggression; Anthropology; Anxiety; Courtship; Culture; Family; Guilt; Hallucinations; History; Humans; Hysteria; Interpersonal Relations; Marriage; New Guinea; Personality; Psychology, Social; Psychotic Disorders; Sex; Sexual Behavior; Superstitions

Topics: Brain Injuries; Frontal Lobe; Hallucinations; Humans; Hypophysectomy; Iatrogenic Disease; Mental Disorders; Personality; Personality Disorders; Postoperative Complications; Sex

Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Adaptation, Psychological; Hallucinations; Humans; Sensory Deprivation; Sex; Sex Characteristics; Time Perception