PSYCHIC ACTIVITY, regarded as a "biological clock,"3 is accelerated in hypomanic illness. It was postulated that this psychic acceleration in hypomania is accompanied by a faster personal time leading to an asynchronism between subjective and clock-measured time. The purpose of the present investigation is to test this hypothesis.
Subjects and Methods
Fourteen patients, 8 men and 6 women, were the subjects of this experiment. They were admitted to the North Middlesex Hospital, London, or to Claybury Hospital, Woodford, Essex, with a hypomanic illness. Their ages ranged from 23 to 66 years, with a mean of 47 years. The patients were all tested within a few days of their admission, in the majority of cases before drug treatment was started; where this was not possible, the administration of drugs was suspended at least 24 hours before the test. The subjects were retested on recovery