PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO CORTICOTROPIN, CORTISONE, AND RELATED STEROID SUBSTANCES

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In previous reports1 we have summarized the psychological responses which attend the administration of corticotropin (ACTH), cortisone, and other related steroids. It has been indicated that these responses are but one aspect of the widespread change induced by these agents—that the total adaptation of the human organism is altered by a multiplicity of factors. These relate to the direct and indirect effects on both the internal and external environments. The rapidity as well as the degree of change produced constitutes a stress which in turn mobilizes resources characteristic of the patient. Hence, the clinical form which the response takes is determined in large part by the habitual organization of the patient's personality; most particularly by the preferred way in which he has responded to stress in the past. The descriptive aspects of the range of responses noted have been grouped into four clinical grades. Grade 1 is comprised of