On Querulance

The clinical syndrome of querulance is a familiar one. The patient reiterates his complaints endlessly in a stereotyped manner and with intense feeling. This grievance constitutes a major, if not the main interest in his life. He is unable to forget or forgive. Time makes no difference: a grievance thirty years old is as fresh as one which arose only yesterday. He feels that the wrong he has suffered can never be remedied. The pathological lack of insight is characteristic, and while he himself is extremely sensitive, he usually shows scant consideration for the feelings and rights of others. He is mostly unaware of the intensely aggressive attitude which finds expression in his complaints, or else considers it more than justified by the wrongs he has sustained. He is deaf to any argument, although he often provokes argument, and refusal to reason with him only increases his querulance. He expends much time and emotion in proving his case (often having recourse to litigation), and it must be admitted that he frequently has perfectly valid arguments, but either his reaction is altogether excessive or else he is unable to see anything but his own point of view. It is perfectly true that it is unfair that a customer who comes in later should be served first, but no ordinary person would nurse a grievance for days or weeks because of such an 'injustice'.

Only by listening conscientiously to the arguments of my querulent patients did I realize how good-natured and peaceful the ordinary person is. He does not even forgive; he just forgets. The problem of the querulent patient is largely his inability to forget. Another problem is his inability to see the other person's point of view. The following is a characteristic incident. The importation into England of two hundred cigarettes from the Isle of Man is allowed duty free. When a patient, who imported a few more than this authorized maximum, had