Psychosomatic Medicine 21:247-254 (1959)
© 1959 American Psychosomatic Society

An Unusual Oral Symptom-Complex

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse, N. Y.

Social as well as psychological determinants of "oral habits" and symptoms are discussed. A case of a middle aged woman with oral lesions, anorexia, and ataxia was presented. This symptom complex although unresponsive to a myriad of medical treatments, disappeared after one psychiatric interview. It was postulated that her symptoms represented a pantomime on her part of "contemptuous" people of a social class from which she had elevated herself. The pantomime, through the oral lesions and staggering gait, represented their indulgent orality, in particular their excessive drinking and smoking. Her presenting symptoms disappeared when she was seen and treated by "specialists" with whom she almost instantaneously identified.