The pain thresholds of patients with schizophrenia often seem to differ from those of healthy subjects. In the present study we assessed the pain thresholds of ten patients with schizophrenia, and of ten controls, by measuring the leg flexion nociceptive reflex threshold: the stimulation threshold at which this reflex is triggered, is known to be correlated with the pain threshold. Our conclusion is that, in most cases, the increase in pain threshold is the result of ‘attitude’ and not of alterations in brain function.

Four children presented to child psychiatric clinics with a variety of symptoms. They were all later recognised as having Crohn's disease. There was a significant delay between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis, compared with a control group of patients with Crohn's disease whose presentation was with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms, which was associated with evidence of increased morbidity. Children with abdominal and psychiatric symptoms occurring in combination need serial assessments of physical status, including height and weight, and measurements of inflammatory and nutritional status.

We report an unusual and unsuspected cause of maternal neglect in a patient with Tourette's syndrome. An important cause of the behaviour appears to have been a form of dyscalculia characterised by a complete inability to appreciate the passage of time. To our knowledge this is the first case of its kind to be reported.

It has become increasingly evident that Tourette's syndrome (TS) is not as rare as was once thought and substantial cohorts from various parts of the world have been reported. The clinical characteristics seem independent of culture as they appear to occur with some degree of uniformity irrespective of the country of origin. We investigated the point prevalence and report the clinical characteristics of TS in New Zealand. Forty probable cases were identified and the symptoms were similar to those described in cohorts from other parts of the world.

A clinician who wants to read about suicide faces a problem which besets the whole of psychiatry: how to encompass the many perspectives, each with its own discipline, all of which have to be included in any comprehensive and complete explanation of the problem. Face-to-face contact with suicidal people is central to our own clinical experience, but if we are to build up any credible theory about causation and prevention then these have to withstand a vigorous challenge from others, for example community doctors who seek proof by controlled trials, or social scientists who accord paramount importance to social events in the causation of suicide. Careful selection of papers and reviews in our reading is rendered all the more important at the present time when suicide prevention finds itself centre-stage as a result of the Health of the Nation targets for suicide prevention (Department of Health, 1992).