Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 92. (Budapest, 1980)

PSZICHIÁTRIATÖRTÉNETI KÖZLEMÉNYEK - Hörcsik Edit—Pisztora Ferenc: Ritkuló és halványuló babonás hiedelmek, valamint széles körben elterjedt technikai ismeretek napjaink psychiátriai kórképeiben

people's mentality. These latter elements of consciousness — on the basis of literature and ;he investigation of the authors — occur mostly among women on the one hand and among small village dwellers on the other hand especially among those who live the whole of their lives in the country, at the same place. The result is the same either normal populations or psychiatric patients are examined. Authors investigated 100 case histories from the period 1867—1918 and another 100 ones from the period 1965—1977, all of them containing some elements of superstition. In the first sample they found 75 "purely superstitous" cases and 25 ones where superstition mingled with other elements, while in the second sample the rates were 64 to 36. Nowadays, in the formation of psychiatric symptoms, there are two main types of the simultaneous presence of archaic-magic and modern scientific-technical knowledge. After the author's investigation, the first possibility is the co-existence of these heterogeneous elements without closer connection with each other, the second is an organic intertwining, where elements are built into each other. A further aspect for classification is whether the archaic or the modern theme is more preponderant, more intensive and in appearance prior to the other in the formation of the symptom. After presenting the cases illustrating the above mentioned variations, authors emphasize the importance of training psychiatrists in folklore so that they can make use of it in practical diagnosis, in the differentiation of normal and effected folkloric phenomena and contents. E. HÖRCSIK, Mrs., Dr. med. psychiatrist F. PISZTORA, Dr. med. psychiatrist, head physician Tolna megyei kórház-rendelőintézet Szekszárd, P.O.B. 85, Hungary, H-7101