THE OBSESSIONAL PERSONALITY AND OBSESSIONAL ILLNESS
I. M. INGRAM M.D., D.P.M.1
1 Lecturer in Psychological Medicine, University of Glasgow; Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, S.W.1.
An examination of premorbid personality in 77 inpatients with severe obsessional states shows that obsessional personality and illness are intimately connected and that the conventional obsessional traits, present in 84% of the group, justify their general acceptance when re-examined in their original setting. The description by Lewis of "obstinate, morose, irritable" and "submissive, vacillating, uncertain" types was applicable in only 39%, but the results suggest that certain obsessional traits may predispose to obsessional illness more than others.
