Psychogenic sneezing and yawning.

A DIVORCED Negro woman of about 40, complaining of violent spasms of sneezing and a compression sensation in the chest, was referred to me for diagnosis and to determine whether a causal relationship existed between her condition and the substances with which she worked. The claimant stated that she began sneezing on the first day that she worked with a gunpowder mixture. Occasionally the attacks were interrupted by yawning. Her condition became gradually worse, and by the third day the attacks became so violent and continuous that she required emergency care by the company doctor. The physician administered a general anaesthesia (chloroform) and the patient was relieved of her symptoms for about three hours, after which the attacks recurred. The next day she was seen by her private doctor, who advised her to give up her job since he was of the opinion that her symptoms were caused by the inhalation of the dusts of the gunpowder. She was under his care for a period of about three weeks, receiving vasoconstrictor and local anaesthetic drugs to her nose and throat. This was discontinued because it failed to relieve the patient.