ious breakdown thirty years later was
laid in her fifth and sixth years.

The second case is that of a patient who, as a child, had some
convulsive attacks. She was therefore considered delicate and was
thoroughly spoiled. When nearly thirty she lived through a sexual
experience which caused extreme anxiety; she broke down and was admitted
to an asylum. After admission she looked across the dormitory and saw a
head appearing above the bed-clothes, the hair of which had been cut
short for hygienic reasons. With a memory of her sexual indiscretion
still vivid in her mind she jumped to the conclusion that she was in a
place where men and women were crowded together in the same room. She
got out of bed, refused to return to it, fought against the nurses and
was transferred to a single room, with the mattress on the floor and the
window shuttered. She wondered where she was and came to the conclusion
that she was in a horse-box. Then arose a feeling of terror that she
would be at the disposal of the grooms when they returned from work. The
sound of heavy footsteps of the patients passing along the corridor to
the tea-room suggested that the grooms were returning and that her room
would soon be invaded. The feeling of terror increased and she tried to
hide in the corner, drawing the mattress and clothes over her. And so
on.

Months later when I had my first interview with her, her sole remark
during the hour was "How can I speak in a place like this?" This was
repeated almost without intermission throughout the hour. It formed a
good example of the origin of the process of perseveration, a process
frequently adopted by the patient to guard against the disclosure of a
troublesome secret.

If we attempt to trace out some of the mechanisms employed in these two
cases we shall see that in response to definite stimuli each reacted in
a manner which cannot be considered abnormal in kind. It was normal
reaction for the child to be distressed at being separated from her
mother in such a way, to be frightened by being left in the graveyard
alone, or at the threat of her being carried away by a "bogey-man" if
she dared to mention anything of the clandestine meetings to her mother.
It was not very abnormal that after her sexual experience the other
patient while still in a confused state caused by the intense emotional
condition of anxiety, should, on seeing a head with the hair cropped
short, jump to the conclusion that there was a