The Psychiatric Aspects of Paroxysmal Tachycardia
FRANK FISH M.B., M.R.C.P., D.P.M.1
1 Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Edinburgh
A series of seventeen out-patients suffering from paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, in the absence of organic heart disease were investigated psychiatrically. The commonest provoking causes of an attack were excitement and emotion, exercise, and sleep. Hypnagogic experiences were more common in patients who had attacks in relation to sleep. All patients showed marked obsessional personality traits, but since these characteristics are frequently found among tense anxious individuals and depressives, the significance of this finding is doubtful. Only one patient was apparently psychiatrically normal. Two had acute anxiety states, six had chronic anxiety states and eight had depressions at the time of reporting to the clinic with the complaint of tachycardia.
