The Ulcer Type

The importance of emotional factors in bringing on stomach ulcers is well known, but one of the doctor's problems is to decide which of his patients are "the ulcer type." To help their colleagues, Drs. Albert J. Sullivan and Thomas E. McKell of New Orleans' Ochsner Clinic have written a bright, breezy new monograph, Personality in Peptic Ulcer (Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill.; $3).

Some men, say the authors, are born to have ulcers, some acquire them, others have ulcers thrust upon them. The born ulcer type they describe as "the tense, anxious, driving, active, mildly agitated individual frequently seen as the go-getter, the promoter, the organizer, the manager, the executive, the businessman who cannot seem to let up." If his craving for success and affection is not satisfied, he feels insecure (see cut).

Other illustrations in the book show that some men acquire ulcers largely as a result of inner and outward conflicts--e.g., the dissonant (neurotic) personality. The man whose ulcers are thrust upon him may be driven by the sharp pressure of outside events, such as a fall in the family fortunes.

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