An EEG Measure of the Effect of Mood Change on the Thiopentone Tolerance of Depressed Patients

It is a common clinical observation that emotional disturbance can influence a patient's response to sedative drugs. In recent years these effects have been studied in both normal and emotionally ill subjects. Kornetsky and Humphries (1957) found that in ten healthy adults the response to small doses of secobarbital sodium correlated with the scores on the depression and psychasthenia scales of the MMPI. Von Felsingeret al. (1955), in a study of the effect of a variety of psychotropic drugs, including pentobarbitone, on “normal” subjects, observed that those who responded in an atypical fashion tended to have abnormal personalities and to suffer from depressive episodes. Beecher (1955) has pointed out that the degree of placebo effect on post-operative analgesia varies with the severity of the stress to which the patient is exposed.