Catastrophic schizophrenia
Encyclopedia
In psychiatry
, catastrophic schizophrenia or schizocaria is a rare and acute form of schizophrenia
leading directly to a severe and unremitting chronic
psychosis
(the long term occurrence of psychosis
) and deterioration of the personality. Catastrophic schizophrenia has "an acute onset and rapid decline into a chronic state without remission".
's son Manfred Bleuler described the elimination of what he called catastrophic schizophrenia by improved hospital care prior to the advent of antipsychotic
medications. Catastrophic schizophrenia, which was the prototype for Kraepelin's dementia praecox
, was characterized by an acute onset of a severe psychosis, followed with little improvement by a severe chronic psychosis lasting until death.
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, catastrophic schizophrenia or schizocaria is a rare and acute form of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
leading directly to a severe and unremitting chronic
Chronic (medicine)
A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...
psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
(the long term occurrence of psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
) and deterioration of the personality. Catastrophic schizophrenia has "an acute onset and rapid decline into a chronic state without remission".
History
Eugen BleulerEugen Bleuler
Paul Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist most notable for his contributions to the understanding of mental illness and for coining the term "schizophrenia."-Biography:...
's son Manfred Bleuler described the elimination of what he called catastrophic schizophrenia by improved hospital care prior to the advent of antipsychotic
Antipsychotic
An antipsychotic is a tranquilizing psychiatric medication primarily used to manage psychosis , particularly in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A first generation of antipsychotics, known as typical antipsychotics, was discovered in the 1950s...
medications. Catastrophic schizophrenia, which was the prototype for Kraepelin's dementia praecox
Dementia praecox
Dementia praecox refers to a chronic, deteriorating psychotic disorder characterized by rapid cognitive disintegration, usually beginning in the late teens or early adulthood. It is a term first used in 1891 in this Latin form by Arnold Pick , a professor of psychiatry at the German branch of...
, was characterized by an acute onset of a severe psychosis, followed with little improvement by a severe chronic psychosis lasting until death.
Recent studies
The outcome of a study by Luc Ciompi and Christian Müller in 1976 has shown that only 6 percent of schizophrenic patients were judged to be suffering from catastrophic schizophrenia.Further reading
- Luc Ciompi, Christian Müller, Lebensweg und Alter der Schizophrenen. Eine katamnestische Langzeitstudie bis ins Senium (Life and age of schizophrenics. A longitudinal study catamnestic down to senility). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, NY (USA), 1976
- Richard P. Bentall, Reconstructing schizophrenia, 1992
- Alan S. Bellack, Schizophrenia—treatment, management, and rehabilitation, 1984, 417 pages
- Irving B. Weiner, Donald K. Freedheim, George Stricker & Thomas A. Widiger, Handbook of Psychology: Clinical psychology, 2003