A patient with AIDS developed the Capgras' syndrome as part of an acute confusional state resulting from an opportunistic infection. Neuropsychological testing suggested non-dominant hemisphere dysfunction with impaired facial recognition. Serial CT scanning showed a right parietal lesion which resolved after the psychosis improved. These findings provide further evidence for the hypothesis that selective visuospatial deficits underlie the development of Capgras' syndrome.

A 48-hour rapid-cycling disorder in a patient with pre-existing cerebral sarcoidosis, not described previously, was similar to that of others in the literature in that the mood switching occurred during sleep. Although the condition is rare, its existence raises important questions regarding the neurophysiology of affective disorders in general.

Over 14 years a patient was admitted at least 91 times to at least 25 general and four psychiatric hospitals and treated for a wide range of conditions that she did not have. She appears to have recovered. The medical and psychiatric care she received probably contributed to the onset of this disorder in a person already vulnerable, and to its maintenance.

When he submitted his dissertation on Morbid Grief Reactions: A Review of the Literature to the University of London in 1959, Parkes made his first major contribution to the study of grief and bereavement. There followed a series of publications (e.g. Parkes, 1965, 1971) which culminated in the first edition of the book reconsidered here. On my first reading of this book, I was reminded of Samuel Johnson's comment that “the two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new”. Parkes' descriptions of unusual reactions to loss are presented in a fashion which makes them feel reassuringly familiar, and those reactions which are more commonplace are described in a way which requires us to consider them anew.