HYPOGLYCEMIA AND TENSION-DEPRESSION

Abstract

Hypoglycemia may be the result of a variety of organic disorders. Its symptoms, however, are often confused with those of psychoneurosis, which they closely resemble. The disorder is more apt to occur in the fasting state. The authors present 7 case histories of patients who showed the symptoms of hypoglycemia not in the fasting state but only after the ingestion of food, and who had no organic disease that might have accounted for the symptoms. The patients were all emotionally disturbed individuals and the authors conclude that hypoglycemia may be secondary to a personality disturbance and that treatment should be directed toward the psychiatric aspects of the disorder. In making sugar tolerance tests the usual standards should be used with some latitude and the results should be interpreted in terms of the individual rather than according to established norms.