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REVIEWS: Annette Tuffs Die Krankheitserfinder: Wie wir zu Patienten gemacht werden [Disease Mongers: How we all become Patients] BMJ 2003; 327: 1173 [Full text]

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Manic defence for Sisi

Andrew Al-Adwani, Carla Mahmoud   (14 November 2003)

Manic defence for Sisi 14 November 2003
Andrew Al-Adwani, Consultant Psychiatrist DN15 7BH, Carla Mahmoud Send response to journal: Re: Manic defence for Sisi	Sir: The so called Sisi syndrome is touted as a novel and new diagnosis. The concept of manic defence, developed by Melanie Klein, describes exactly this sort of behaviour in the face of depression. Though this concept has never been validated it does seem to have face validity, though, quite sensibly, many psychiatrists would simply see this behaviour as part of a spectrum of affective disorder with the 'manic' episodes representing discrete periods of mild mania as occurs in what is known as Bipolar disorder type II. A new name is not equal to a new idea, debunked or not. Competing interests: None declared