[Conditions for the transition of premorbid states into borderline forms of pathology]

Conditions for the transformation of some premorbid states into borderline forms of pathology in the menopausal and pubertal periods are analyzed. It has been established that factors of higher risk of the transformation of a menopausal preneurosis-like condition into a neurosis-like one in women with a history of complete or partial castration are as follows: older (over 45 years) age by the time of surgical intervention, complete castration, a combination of the previous operation and attendant additional hazards (psychogenias and somatogenias) as well as the occurrence of the menopause before the operation. In the pubertal period behavioural deviations and neuropsychic disturbances usually reach a degree of obvious pathology (psychopathies, psychogenias) in cases where a long-standing psychotraumatic situation is combined with unfavourable biological factors such as minimum brain deficit, severe and prolonged debilitating somatic disease, a shain of infections, and pathological heredity.