680
PSYCHOTICVISITORSTOTHEWHITE
HOUSE
[December
large
sums
ofmoney(5cases),todisplay
orsellabizarreinvention(5cases),tobesworninasPresident(2cases)
-
Infour
cases,thedelusionswerenotreported.Three
ofthe
53patientswere“com-bative.”Thediagnoseswereasfollows:
dementiapraecox,paranoidtype,23cases;
dementiapraecox,othertypes,12cases;paranoia,paranoidcondition,sixcases;
manic-depressive,manic
type,threecases;
andorganicbrainsyndrome,ninecases.
Tenpatientswererecoveredenoughtobe
dischargedbuttherestwerehospitalizedat
St.Elizabethsorinhospitalsintheirhome
stateforlongerperiodsoftime.Throughoutthepaper,Dr.Hoffmanmadecommentsandobservationsandofferedmanyhypotheses.Theadmissionrateandthecontentofthedelusionsofthesepatientsfluctuated“accordingtothe
personalityof
thePresidentialincumbent.”
Althoughthepatientswere“quiet,pleas-ant,congenial,cooperativeandwellbe-haved,”heconsideredthem“potentiallythemostdangerousofallpatients”becauseoftheirlackofinsightandbizarreideas.Ofthe40WhiteHousecasesadmittedin
1960
and1961,38chartswerereviewed.Onlythepatient’sname,sex,dateofad-missionandthedispositionwereavail-ableintheothertwocases.Onepatientwasadmittedtwicein1960,andanotherpatientwashospitalizedoncein1960andtwicein1961-threetimesaltogether.Un-likeHoffman’ssample,whichincludedvisitorstoallgovernmentaldepartments,thecasesincludedinthispartofthestudywereWhiteHousecasesexclusively.In
1960,
whenMr.EisenhowerwasPresi-dent,eightpatientswerehospitalized;in1961,theinauguralyearofMr.Kennedy,32patientswereadmitted.Dr.
Hoffman
didnotdistinguishthepatientsof1927fromthoseof1937,althoughhecommentedthatthepersonalityofthePresidentmightbeanimportantfactor.BetweenthePresi-dentsof1960and1961therewasagreatcontrastinage,religion,politics,personalityandmanyothercharacteristics.Anyoneofthesemayhaveinfluencedtheadmissionrate,andotherfactorscouldnotbedis-counted.Admissionswerehighestinthespringandsummer,andespeciallyAprilandMay,butdidnotincreasesignificantlyattimesofnationalmoment,suchasthe
InaugurationortheBayofPigsInvasion.Furthermore,admissionsinlate1963,thetimeoftheassassinationofPresidentKennedy,causednochangeinadmissionrate.This
iscontrary
toHoffman’shypothe-sis.
Twentypatientswerebetween30and50yearsold.Thereweretwoteenagers,threeintheir70sandone86,withanaverageageof44,thesameasintheHoffmanstudy.Twenty-sixweremenand
14women;32werewhiteand
sixNegro.Whitemales(32cases)madeupthe
largestpartofthisgroupaswellas
Hoffman’s.
HalfofthepatientslivedinNewYork(7),Pennsylvania(6),Ohio(4)orMassa-chusetts(3),whiletwocamefromCanada.NoneofthepatientscamefromCali-fornia.Elevenofthe38wereforeign-born;thishighincidencewasalsonotedbyHoffman.Nineteen
ofthe38patientswereProtes-tants,10wereCatholics,twoJewish,oneGreekOrthodox,oneatheist,andthein-
formationwasunknowninfivecases.NineofthetenCatholicswereadmittedin1961.Eighteenpatientswereunmarried,eightmarried,sevendivorced,fourwid-
owed,andthemaritalstatusofonepatient
wasunknown.
Allthepatientsweredelusional.Four-teenfelttheywerebeingfollowedorpersecuted.Sevencametohelpthecountryinsomeway.Three
ofthese
broughtmessagesfromGod,oneclaimed
tobeJesusChrist,onereportedanelabo-
ratespyringsurroundingherPennsylvaniafarm.
Anotherhadsuggestionsaboutcom-
batingtheRussians.
Fivepatientscametocollectfortunesinmoneyorland.ThreeclaimedtheywerethePresident,onemaintainedthatshewasmarriedtothePresident,anda75-year-oldlady,whorefusedtobelievethatMr.
Eisenhowerwasnolonger
inoffice,claimedtobethePresident’smother.
An18-year-oldboyhadfamilyproblems
whichhewantedthePresidenttosolve,andamiddle-agedNegromanwantedthePresidenttoreturnhimtothewhiterace.Twopatientsconsideredtheirmission“topsecret”andrefusedtorevealanydetails,
Add a Comment