Hereditary Factors in Schizophrenia

Abstract

The origin of the most frequently used current classification scheme for schizophrenia can be traced to Emil Kraepelin and Eugene Bleuler. The work by Kraepelin (1856–1926) was the culmination of efforts by the 19th-century psychiatrists to sort out the various types of mental disorders. Although he used the term dementia praecox, the disorder he described is very similar to that which is now called schizophrenia. His primary concern was to differentiate dementia praecox from manic-depressive psychosis. The major symptoms he described were hallucinations, delusions, negativism, deficient attention, and inappropriate emotional responses. He recognized four types: simple, hebephrenic, catatonic, and paranoid. His general view was that the disease process was organic, perhaps of a hereditary nature.