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Clinical dangers of psychological theorizing

The Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

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The burden of patients with tourette's syndrome is so immense, it is a wonder to us and a credit to them that they do not become psychotic.

Abstract

A patient with a 33-year history of Tourette's Syndrome who was finally successfully treated with haloperidol is presented to illustrate the erroneous reading of symptoms and the harmful consequences resulting from the medical vogue of attributing psychological cause to diseases of unknown etiology.

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Shapiro, A.K., Shapiro, E. Clinical dangers of psychological theorizing. Psych Quar 45, 159–171 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01574970

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