PUERPERAL INSANITY

PUERPERAL INSANITY. In my belief, the first and last of these varieties should not be classed as puerperal, as they are usually due to some cause other than the puerperal state, which latter stands in the relation of precipitating cause only. There is an inherited predisposition, neurotic or hysterical foundation, syphilitic taint, or and exhausted devitalized state, and the puerperal state is no more an aetiological factor than any non-puerperic cause of exhaustion, mental or physical.