ABSTRACT
It may seem strange to include these cases under the general heading of “The Hysterias”, particularly as a large proportion of drug addicts are described as “constitutional psychopaths”, a term presumably meaning cases of characterological disorder with psychotic trends. Undoubtedly their numbers include certain cases of manic-depressive psychosis, paranoid personalities, homosexuals and true inverts; but the truth is that any person who is sufficiently gravely tormented by internal conflicts and an inability to adapt his needs to those of his environment or of society, may have resource to chemical agents to achieve some alleviation if only temporary.
