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The research upon the influence of psychic factors on gastrointestinal disturbances, on which we are engaged at present at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute, is part of a more comprehensive study, namely the systematic investigation of the influence of psychic factors upon the different vegetative systems: the circulatory, respiratory and the endocrine systems. The principal reasons for beginning with the investigation of parallel cases of gastro-intestinal disturbance are three:
1In former years I made certain observations in cases of gastric neuroses which seemed to me not only typical of such cases but also important in respect of the etiology of peptic ulcer, one of the great riddles of internal medicine. In a patient with a chronic gastric neurosis of 15 years duration, who at one time developed a peptic ulcer, I could trace with great clarity the relation to gastric symptoms of certain emotional conflicts and situations, and with wider experience the wish to study a number of similar cases for further confirmation of these connections became more urgent. In private practice the choice of suitable cases is not always possible but the organization of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, the primary aim of which is to further research, has given me the opportunity I desired, with a freer choice of parallel cases suitable for such investigations.
2The second reason for beginning with the study of the gastro-intestinal tract was the well established fact, recognized