ABSTRACT
The invest ig a tion of Jean Head (née Jones) and her family began shortly after she had developed an acute psychotic break down of a schizo phreni form type.
She was perplexed and self-absorbed when she was admit ted to hospital. It was diffi cult to piece her story together because she spoke in a vague rambling way in the voice of a little girl, frequently talking past the point and stop ping abruptly in the middle of sentences. Sometimes as she spoke she giggled incon gru ously, while at other times she wept, although without appar ent depth of feeling. These expres sions of emotion, however, were tran si ent and her prevail ing manner was that of a puzzled child doing her best to meet the demands of adults. There was a puppet doll-like quality about her, present not only with us but also with the nurses and members of her family. As she recovered it became less marked, but even when she was clin ic ally ‘well’, and back to what she and her family said was her normal self, it was still present to some extent. Her story as it emerged was as follows.
