basic tool of primitive psychiatry
Thorazine advertisement, 1977.
Hospital & Community Psychiatry, Vol. 28, No. 1.


Basic tool of primitive psychiatry
Herbalist's staff (opa osanyin), with birds (wrought iron), Yoruba tribe, Nigeria. 21 inches.
This staff is topped by a circle to which 16 small birds (a magical number) are attached.
The single bird in the middle symbolizes the witch who causes sickness or death.
The staff is placed next to the shrine of Osanyin (the god of the herbalist), along with
eggs and kola, to neutralize the witch's evil spirit. Sometimes the staff is also placed
next to the bed of a sick person to chase away the disease-causing spirit.
From the collection of the Segy Gallery, New York City. Reproduced with permission.
Basic tool of modern psychiatry
Thorazine® brand of chlorpromazine

* 'Thorazine' effectively controls psychotic symptoms
* Especially useful in agitated, violent or anxious schizophrenic patients
* Unsurpassed clinical experience
* 18 convenient dosage forms and strengths
Breaks down schizophrenic barriers
© 1967, 1968, 1969   SmithKline Corporation
[Warnings include]
Use in pregnancy only when essential. There are reported instances of jaundice or prolonged
extrapyramidal signs in newborn whose mother had received chlorpormazine.
[Adverse reactions include]
neuromuscular (extrapyramidal) reactions; pseudo-parkinsonism, motor restlessness, dystonias,
persistent tardive dyskinesia, hyperreflexia in the newborn.

Back to Marvelous Mental Medicine Thorazine shuffle


© 2008 Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research