Once it was determined that hyperthyroidism was the probable etiology of her cardiac decompensation, the next step was treatment of the underlying disease.
A varying percentage of our combat soldiers reach the limit of their endurance and must leave their foxholes, not for physical wounds but because of emotional decompensation.
In some cases, the fragile individual, overwhelmed by the implicit demands and expectations for sociability, coherence, and constructive behavior, rapidly decompensates, taking flight into psychosis or protective withdrawal.