Multiple sclerosis and hysteria.

To the Editor.— In their article, Caplan and Nadelson speculate on the preexistence of hysterical traits that complicated the later course of their patients' MS. I would like to describe a case where the existence of a hysterical personality disorder preceded the onset and obscured the diagnosis of MS. Report of a Case.— A 23-year-old woman, two months postpartum, came to our psychiatric emergency room complaining of "blindness and no feeling in my arms and legs. I'm too weak to hold my baby." She had had a normal postpartum physical examination three weeks earlier. Two weeks earlier she was seen in our hospital complaining of depression and decreased concentration. An evaluation at that time failed to confirm a depressive syndrome, and no treatment was instituted. Past history disclosed psychiatric contacts beginning at the age of 14 years, when she was institutionalized for "truancy and acting out." At 18 years she