On the origins of the concept of ‘latent schizophrenia’ in Russian psychiatry

In the mid-twentieth century in the Soviet Union, latent schizophrenia became an important concept and a matter of research and also of punitive psychiatry. This article investigates precursor concepts in early Russian psychiatry of the nineteenth century, and examines whether – as claimed in recent literature – Russian and Soviet research on latent schizophrenia was mainly influenced by the work of Eugen Bleuler.

Book Review: "Titans of psychiatry of the twentieth century" by P.V. Morozov, R.A. Bekker, Yu.V. Bykov

This publication is an analysis of the book by P.V. Morozov, R.A. Becker, Yu.V. Bykov, dedicated to the four most significant persons, who had an invaluable influence on psychiatry in the XX century (Emil Kraepelin, Eugen Bleuler, Sigmund Freud, Karl Jaspers). Among the advantages of the book on the history of psychiatry, one can stress out a successful extrapolation of the ideas of the “titans” to the current state of psychiatric science and a discussion of their work with the use of the actual language of current clinical psychiatry. This makes it possible to recommend the book not only to experienced psychiatrists and researchers, but also to young specialists, as well as residents and students. Another important achievement of the book is the successful disclosure of not only ideas, but also biographies of the “titans” placed in the scientific, historical, political, cultural and personal contexts.

Double bookkeeping and schizophrenia spectrum: divided unified phenomenal consciousness

Eugen Bleuler, the founder of the concept of schizophrenia, pointed out that psychotic patients were able to live in two disjoint worlds (namely, the social, intersubjective world and the delusional world). He termed this phenomenon “double bookkeeping,” but did not provide any conceptual elaboration of this phenomenon or its possible mechanisms. Double bookkeeping has been neglected in mainstream psychiatry, but it has been addressed in recent theoretical work, however mainly concerned with the issue of delusion. In this article, we present clinical material that supports the view that double bookkeeping manifests itself across various psychotic phenomena and its antecedent may be observed in premorbid (pre-onset) phases as well as in the schizotypal disorder. We try to conceptualize double bookkeeping to concretize an often atmospheric perception of paradoxicality in the encounter with the patient. A phenomenological analysis of double bookkeeping suggests an instability in the affective (“auto-affection”) articulation of selfhood. We point to four main implications of our presentation: (1) diagnostic, (2) epistemological, (3) therapeutic and (4) pathogenetic research.

Filosofía de la antigüedad

Tomado del psiquiatra Eugen Bleuler, el concepto de ambivalencia fue descrito por Sigmund Freud como aquella “presencia simultánea en la relación con un mismo objeto, de tendencias, actitudes y sentimientos opuestos, especialmente amor y odio”.1 Esta disposición híbrida, en la cual convergen apegos positivos y negativos, paradójicos, siempre inten- sos, podría servirnos para el siglo xxi, cuando pensamos nuestro objeto de afecto más lejano y que, al mismo tiempo, parece habernos constitui- do indefectiblemente: lo antiguo, los clásicos, eso que amamos y odia- mos, que nos conforma y, tal vez, nos irrita.

A FAMÍLIA E A SEXUALIDADE DE FILHOS/AS AUTISTAS:

A palavra autismo é derivada do grego “autos” com o sentido de “voltar-se para si mesmo”. As primeiras investigações do autismo iniciaram-se em 1911 pelo psiquiatra Eugen Bleuler, sendo estudado especificamente em 1943 pelo psiquiatra Léo Kanner, recebendo novas concepções a partir da década de 80 com a chegada dos Manuais Diagnósticos e Estatísticos (DSM) e da Classificação Internacional de Doenças (CID), sendo classificado atualmente como Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA). O que a literatura nacional oferece para compreender a sexualidade do autista? Para responder essa indagação foi realizado uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática e meta-análise nas seguintes bases de dados: SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) e BDTD (Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações). As palavras-chave foram autismo, Educação Sexual, família e sexualidade. Resultados: 07 trabalhos publicados (Scielo 01; BDTD 06) excluídos 02 não relacionados à temática. Foram analisados 05 na íntegra categorizados por eixos temáticos: familiares (3); professores (1); outros profissionais: fonoaudiólogo, terapeuta ocupacional e professor especialista (1). Nota-se um número insignificante de estudos focando a sexualidade do autista, essa realidade desvela a necessidade de investimento em formação profissional e multidisciplinar para orientar e dialogar com a família, escola, igreja e outras matrizes de sentidos acerca das manifestações afetivo/sexuais do autista.

Autistic Thinking, Literary Creativity as the Cause of Autism, and the Cure for Autism

The cause of autism, termed by Eugen Bleuler in 1911, has not been elucidated to this day. A scientific and logical approach can be utilized to eliminate potential causes and consider ideas not thought of before. Therefore, it is proposed that literary creativity is in fact the causative agent of autism and that a biological cause of autism will never be found. This notion is substantiated through its very unscientific early history and verified with observations made by both Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger. Without a mechanism of pathology, it is suggested that perception plays a major role in both the dissemination and the cure of autism. The Chi-square test of independence of statistics was used for hypothesis testing to show the low probability that pathology is likely to be found in the word “egocentricity,” a term described to be one of the earliest precursors of autism. Therefore, due to the history of autism, autism is best defined as only a redefinition of the word “egocentricity.”

The Achievement of Ambivalence

Segal traces the development and use of the psychoanalytic concept of ambivalence from Eugen Bleuler to Freud to Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion. Segal’s own argument, ultimately, is that ambivalence is an achievement rather than a problem, though only when it is acknowledged and not repressed. Her essay concludes its survey with Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents” and Segal’s own meditation on the cultural implications of failure to acknowledge ambivalence. In their efforts to overcome ambivalence, groups often depend on the most primitive psychotic mechanisms, dealing with aggression by projecting it outward and thereby creating enmities. Merging with a group superego allows for the perpetrating of atrocities in wars and revolutions that would never be pursued in our personal lives. Segal warns that the price for failing to recognize ambivalence in the nuclear age is very high, perhaps even the survival of the human race.