Psychosomatic Medicine 11:2-8 (1949)
© 1949 American Psychosomatic Society

Emotional Factors in the Etiology of Hyperthyroidism

The Report of a Preliminary Survey

¹ Psychiatric and Medical Departments, The School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

The purpose of the presentation has been to summarize a preliminary survey, carried out to determine whether or not emotional factors are of sufficient relevance to the development of hyperthyroidism to warrant further study. The constancy with which emotional disturbance precedes the onset of illness, the similarity between the emotional traumata, and the striking similarities in the configurations of the personality structures of patients subject to thyrotoxicosis, leads to the assumption that emotional factors are of major importance. This study of 15 patients gains significance by comparison with the studies of Mittelman and Conrad. The conclusions reached from three separate studies approach a unanimity of opinion rarely found in psychosomatic investigations. Although it is believed that this paper further clarifies the picture of the personality configuration of hyperthyroid patients, the simple confirmation of the prior studies is considered of greater significance.