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Harvey Sternbach, MD
Fair Oaks Hospital 19 Prospect St Summit, NJ 07901

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1982;39(2):235-236.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—I would like to comment on the article "Puerperal Psychosis: Phenomena and Diagnosis" by Brockington et al (ARCHIVES 1981; 38:829-833).

In their study of this disorder, the authors found an "excess of manic symptoms in the puerperal group" as compared with a control group of nonpuerperal psychotic women. Brockington et al note that "in the Victorian literature, reports of 'mania' were frequent; however, they were written before the distinction between dementia praecox and manic-depressive insanity was drawn." The majority of the references from this period cited by Brockington and colleagues are of European origin, with only one American study from 1859 noted.¹ I have recently come across an earlier study on this subject published in the American psychiatric literature in 1847 in which MacDonald² reports on a group of 66 women with puerperal insanity. I should like to point out the "highlights" of this report . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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