Symposium on unidentified flying objects: hearings before the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninetieth Congress, second session, July 29, 1968.

170
Mood:
The
patient appears
to
be
moderately depressed; his
posture
is
slightly
slumped, his expression
often dejected,
and he sighs
frequently.
His general
affect
borders
an
being
flat
but
is
not
otherwise inappropriate.
He
fails
to
show
any
enthusiasm
about anything,
claims
he
has
no special
interests
or
hobbies.
He
seems basically apathetic
about
both his present and
future
life.
Although constricted
but not
highly
controlled,
his anxiety
is
poorly masked
when
he talks about conflictual material and certain feelings.
Thought Content: Subject
is
generally
guarded
about
what
and
how
much he says.
When
put
under some stress
by
the
examiner
(during
a
period
when
he
was
leas
defensive), his associations became briefly mildly loose. His usual
preoccupa-
tions center
around certain guilt feelings,
a
yawing
for
his dead mother, and
(more
recently) the
desire
for
whiskey.
Although obviously depressed, he denies
suicidal
preoccupation.
He does
tend
to
ruminate about
any
teasing
fram women,but
there
is
no
evidence
of
any
kind
of
paranoid
ideation. The content
of
his
day
-dreams and masturbatory fantasies are
described
in
the
anamnesis
(see
previous
section).
The
impression
that
his gaze
was
somehow holding the
odd
light
in
place
in
the
sky
is
the only
evidence suggesting
that he has ever
felt
he
had
any
special
powers.
Prior
to
seeing
that light, he
apparently never
experienced
a
deja
vu, or
any
illusory
or
definite hallucinatory phenomenon
(see
anamnesis regarding hearing
dead mother's voice).
Rituals, obsessional thoughts per
se
are denied, except
for
his
recent,
uncontrollable preoccupation
at
night with his dead mother.
He ack-
nowledges
a
definite
fear
of
flying
(to
the
point
that he
has never
set foot
in
an airplane)
and
is
also
afraid
of
heights.
Orientation: Subject
is fully
oriented
as
to
time,
person, and place.
Previous amnesia and disorientation
(place
and time, only)
have occurred
onlyacutely following
heavy drinking bouts.
patellectual Status: Attention
is
consistently
well
-sustained.
Memory
(in
which there has been
no
known
change
in
recent years)
is
generally above
average. There was
no
inconsistent historical
data which
would indicate hisremote
memory,
or
intermediate memory,
or
recent memory as
being confabulation
or
perseveration.
His
24
-hour recall
is
without disparities after severalrecountings, and immediate recall
is
normal
(he
can
repeat
6
digits forward
and
5
digits backward).
Two
hours after
presentation,
he
could
remember
allfour teat
objects
(a
pencil,
key,
blotter, and
the
color yellow). Simplecalculations
(multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction) were doneaccurately, serial
7's (from 100-0) were done
somewhat slowly but without
any
error*. General
comprehension
is at
least
average; he was able
to
repeat
the"cowboy story" with
only four minor mistakes.
His
proverb
interpretation
(with
six
proverbs) done very hesitantly
but
were adequately abstracted.
Judgement: There
is no
gross impairment
in
this area
(as
evidenced
by
responses
to
hypothetical questions) but the
interview suggests
a
mild limitation, partic-
ularly
in
relation
to
social situations.
Insight:
The subject
is
not
peychologically minded and seems
to
be both unable
and disinclined
to
understand
the
sources
of
his current anxiety, insomnia, and
general despair. He did communicate
a
considerable amount
of
useful psychiatric
data but,
in
the
process
of so doing, seemed very unaware
of how much he wassaying about himself and his feelings.