The Unsystematic Schizophrenias

Abstract

Systematic and unsystematic schizophrenias have essentially nothing to do with each other. The common name is justifiahle only in terms of tradition, because since Kraepelin and Bleuler all endogenous psychoses leading to defect have been grouped as schizophrenias. The deep parallels of the unsystematic schizophrenias are much closer to the cycloid psychoses than to the systematic schizophrenias. This relationship is above all emphasized by the fact that each of the cycloid forms corresponds to one of an unsystematic schizophrenia. There are relationships between anxiety-happiness psychosis and affective paraphrenia, between motility psychosis and periodic catatonia, and between confusion psychosis and cataphasia. The differential diagnosis is often difficult. On the other hand there rarely is a problem in differentiating between a systematic and an unsystematic schizophrenia. Not only are the symptomatic pictures completely different, but their course as well is quite different. The systematic forms display an insidious onset with a gradually progressive course, while the unsystematic forms may go into remission or may even be clearly periodic. Periodic catatonia may produce as many attacks as manic-depressive illness. Bipolarity, too, is characteristic of the unsystematic schizophrenias.