Science

Bill and Sue: A Co-therapy Approach to Conjoint Sex Counseling (A.B.and B.A. Chernick, 1973)

This presentation demonstrates a co-therapy approach to conjoint sex counseling with simulated interviews with the couple and the aid of diagrams and graphs. This program stresses the importance of each member receiving support from the therapist of his own sex. Drs. Avinoam and Beryl Chernick, in addition to their role of sex counselors, also assume the roles of the patients, Bill and Sue Williams. The Williamses have been married three weeks and were referred by their minister for sex counseling.

Pseudo-sclerosis (Struempell-Westphal, 1945)

A young woman wearing scanty clothing is shown sitting in a wheelchair. Her body shakes and trembles. She tries to touch her nose but cannot. She attempts to hold her hands out in front of her, but they will not stay still and continue to tremble when draped over a stick. Her arms flap up and down when she tries to hold them out at her sides. Every physical task is performed with trembling and uncoordinated movements. Her eyeball is shown moving jerkily. She is photographed walking out-of-doors with the help of an attendant. Her gait is unsteady.

The Inside Story: A United States Coast Guard training film (US Coast Guard, 1944)

This film outlines the most common emotional illnesses that may be suffered by a civilian upon entering a military service and suggests how the individual serviceman can deal with them. Anxiety can be caused by isolation from family and familiar circumstances, the pressures of military training, lack of privacy in barracks life, and worry about performing one's duty. Footage of a sailor in the above situations is shown. A navy psychiatrist reassures a troubled seaman, helps him to understand what is happening to him, and gives him material to read that will guide him in his recovery.

Out of Darkness (Columbia Broadcasting System, 1956)

Filmed in the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, Calif., this film is an actual record of three months in the life of one of the patients. It is composed largely of filmed psychotherapeutic sessions, in which a young woman, acutely ill with catatonic schizophrenia, is gradually started on her way to recovery. William C. Menninger is the medical narrator. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9605878(link is external).

Symptoms in Schizophrenia [Silent] (Pennsylvania State College, 1938)

This film describes and demonstrates four types of schizophrenia. Filmed at various New York institutions, it shows patients singly and grouped in large, outside recreational areas. Some patients are blindfolded. Symptoms shown include: social apathy, delusions, hallucinations, hebephrenic reactions, cerea flexibilitas, rigidity, motor stereotypes, posturing, and echopraxia. Produced by Pennsylvania State College.

Prefrontal Lobotomy in the Treatment of Mental Disorders (GWU, 1942)

This film describes and demonstrates a prefrontal lobotomy, an operative procedure employed in mental disorders resistive to other methods of treatment. The procedure consists of cutting the white matter in each frontal lobe in the plane of the coronal suture. This passes just anterior to the frontal horn of the ventricle and interrupts the anterior thalamic radiation. This film includes a written description of the procedure, review of landmarks on the skull and frontal lobe on a demonstration skull and brain, operation on a live patient, and X-rays taken after the operation.

Prefrontal Lobotomy in Chronic Schizophrenia (Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, 1944)

This film shows the improvement that can result from prefrontal lobotomy in chronic psychotics. Four patients are shown before and after the operation. Patients include one 25-year-old aggressive female, one 22-year-old aggressive male, one female who had been catatonic for five years, and one 26-year-old Ph.D. who has had catatonic lapses in the last three years. All patients appeared calmer and more sociable after surgery. Only the five-year catatonic female had to continue hospitalization after the lobotomy, although she had improved greatly.

Case Study of Multiple Personality (C. C. Wholey, 1923)

This film records a case of multiple personality. A woman (Mrs. X) regresses to a childhood state (Susie). She also has another, less well-developed secondary personality (Jack). Later, in response to the death of her parish priest, Mrs. X goes into a trance state for 24 hours and emerges as a baby with a mental age of about one year. The patient is seen at a family picnic, and later, as Susie, writing down answers to questions. There appears to be a struggle between Susie and Jack, and when Jack appears, he exhibits male posture and handshake. Mrs.

Booked for Safekeeping (Louisiana Association for Mental Health, 1959)

This film was made to show policemen proper procedures for handling mentally disturbed citizens who are causing harm to themselves or others in public. Demonstrations include work with the mentally challenged, spousal abusers, suicidal citizens, and those with senile dementia. The film stresses working with partners or with teams to best handle a volatile situation. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9717200(link is external).

And I'll Talk to You Tomorrow (Los Angeles County Medical Assn and Trainex, 1975)

This program discusses a growing problem in the U.S., that of suicide. Several people tell their stories on camera, relating the life events and feelings that led them to self-harm, how they felt afterward. and how their perspectives may have changed since. The video drops in on a series of telephone conversations between a suicide prevention hotline counselor and a distraught woman who calls regularly. The program identifies signs to watch for in a despondent person that might indicate they are contemplating suicide.