Motorcycle accidents-a leading cause of death among college students-may have a psychological basis, and indeed give evidence of a recognizable clinical disorder, according to a Medical School psychiatrist.

"Over the past few years I have observed a group of patients manifesting unusual emotional investment in the motorcycle and sharing a number of general characteristics . . . that I have designated the 'motorcycle syndrome,'" explained Dr. Armand M. Nicholi in a report to the American Psychiatric Association last spring.

"Most people don't realize how much a part of the Now Generation motorcycles are," Nicholi said last week. "The problem is widespread internationally."

Nicholi emphasized that not all motorcyclists-including those who have accidents-suffer from the syndrome.

Five million motorcycles, Nicholi said, will be in use this year, as compared with fewer than half a million in 1956. "Injuries and fatalities have escalated to what physicians now refer to as 'an epidemic of trauma'-this year 5000 people will be killed and close to a million injured in such accidents."

The motorcycle, driven by only ten per cent of the number of students who drive automobiles, accounts for 100 per cent more injuries, Nicholi said.

'Tragic Toll'

"This tragic toll of injury and death will continue as long as research focuses on the vehicle only and neglects the driver," he said. "Physicians have thus far paid little attention to what is undoubtedly the most significant causal factor of all-the psychological."

Based on an in-depth study of nine motorcyclists, all college students, "most of whom were seen in intensive psychotherapy from one to three years," Nicholi has put together an outline of the motorcycle syndrome.

Of the subjects studied, he said, "One or more serious motorcycle accidents was common among them. The motorcycle obtruded into their daily activities, their repetive dreams, and their conscious and unconscious fantasies."

The Syndrome

Characteristics of the motorcycle syndrome include:

Unusual preoccupation with the motorcycle. "When the patient is not actually riding a motorcycle, he tends to daydream continuously of doing so. The mere sound of a distant motorcycle stimulates vivid fantasies."

A history of accident-proneness extending to early childhood.

Persistent fear of bodily injury. "Conscious and unconscious fears of mutilation and death haunt these patients. They openly discuss fear of castration. As with most fantasies, this one has some basis in reality: the loss of testicle in a cycle accident is not unknown."

A distant, conflict-ridden relationship with the father and a strong identification with the mother. "Each patient within my sample feared his father and as a young boy learned to avoid him."

Extreme passivity and inability to compete. "Although endowed with obvious potential, these patients, because of an inability to risk failure, refuse to compete-academically, athletically, or socially. They study only under pressure of exams, participate only in noncompetitive athletics, and form relationships only with those taking the initiative. . .