First described by Ballet, during 1912,[1] it has often been a matter of the greatest difficulty to decide under which heading of the recognized classifications individual members of this group should be placed.

This state of affairs cannot be regarded as satisfactory, for they are not truly cases of melancholia, paranoia, dementia praecox or any other described affection.

Such a state of affairs may last for years and possibly, though rarely, for life, and the subject would not be deemed insane in the ordinary sense of the word.

It's probable, however, that this condition forms the first stage of the illness, which eventually develops on definite lines.

A paper read at the Quarterly Meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association on February 24, 1920, written by Robert Hunter Steen, King's College Hospital, London