based purely on the language (i am not a doctor), i would say that "elmebaj" refers to strictly psychological illness rather than something like stroke.

granted that "psychosis" is not normally fatal, psychiatric problems could cause death, especially where there aren't fancy medical treatments (such as anti-depressants, tranquilizers, intravenous feeding, etc.) available. in addition to intentional suicide, irrational behaviour could also lead to harm such as starvation or other, accidental, injuries.

it also might have been suicide (hungary has had a remarkably high rate), in which case it may have been ascribed to mental illness to avoid stigmatizing the deceased and to soften the blow to the bereaved family.

and it's also important to consider the prejudices of the time, where mental illness was considered a hereditary disease, so the doctor may have been predisposed to finding it in others in the same family. also, if the time period is right, there was considerable interest in mental illness, spurred by the publication (and celebrity) of sigmund freud's work.


....... tom klein, toronto

"Katz, Itzik" <Itzik.Katz@kla-tencor.com> wrote: