History of psychiatry
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History of psychiatry · Dec 2014
Historical ArticleThe birth of schizophrenia or a very modern Bleuler: a close reading of Eugen Bleuler's 'Die Prognose der Dementia praecox' and a re-consideration of his contribution to psychiatry.
After Eugen Bleuler introduced 'schizophrenia' in 1908, the term was hotly debated but eventually led to the abandonment of Kraepelin's previous term 'dementia praecox'. Bleuler's contribution has subsequently been interpreted in two main ways. ⋯ The other, focusing on Bleuler's characterization of 'dementia praecox' in terms of specific psychological alterations, accredits him with a genuine re-conceptualization. Based on a close reading of 'Die Prognose der Dementia praecox', the paper in which Bleuler first mentioned 'schizophrenia', we suggest a further interpretation of Bleuler's contribution and argue that the main motive for his re-conceptualization is to be found in his rejection of Kraepelinian nosology.