Psychosomatic Medicine 24:240-248 (1962)
© 1962 American Psychosomatic Society

Thyrotoxicosis, Traumatic Neurosis, and the Dangerous Environment

¹ Department of Psychiatry of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Psychosomatic Service of the Cincinnati General Hospital
² Department of Psychiatry of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Psychosomatic Service of the Cincinnati General Hospital; U. S. Naval Receiving Station, Flashing Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y.

There has been less attention paid in the literature of recent years to the onset of thyrotoxicosis following a sudden and overwhelmingly traumatic incident. The patient described in this report experienced both thyrotoxicosis and traumatic neurosis soon after he had been in a bus accident. The difficulties in differentiating between some of his symptoms of these two disorders suggested a relationship between thyrotoxicosis and traumatic neurosis. These similarities were inspected in terms of our clinical understanding of these syndromes. Further hypotheses are presented concerning the psychophysiologic mechanisms of normal and abnormal thyroid function.