Janusz Rybakowski: 120 years of the Kraepelinian dichotomy of "endogenous psychoses" in historical perspective

Hector Warnes’ additional comment on Hans Juergen Möller’s comment (article)

        I think it is important to remember that French psychiatry preceded Kraepelin in the description of manic-depressive illness (Baillarger 1854). Another psychiatrist, Jean Pierre Falret, independently named this disorder "Folie circulaire" (Shorter 2005); both were invited to present their respective papers at a meeting of the Academy of Medicine in Paris in 1854. H. S. Akiskal drew further attention to their work in his 2006 publication: "Special issue on circular insanity and beyond: Historic contributions of French Psychiatry to contemporary concepts in research on bipolar disorder.

        The origin of the diagnostic concept of schizoaffective disorder is in the work of Professor Henri Claude (1869-1945), a French neurologist and psychiatrist who described an entity he called “schizomania” (1924), characterized by episodes of delusional excitement after a long period of atypical depression (Claude, Borel and Robin 1924). In the current DSM-5 classification they are considered to be schizoaffective psychoses.

References:

Akiskal HS. Special issue on circular insanity and beyond: Historic contributions of French Psychiatry to contemporary concepts in research on bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord. 2006; 96(3):141-3.

Baillarger J. De la Folie a double forme. Bulletin de la Academie de Medecine, Paris, 1854.

Claude H, Borel A, Robin G. Démence Précoce, schizomanie et schizophrénie. LÉncéphale, Paris, 1924; pp. 145-51.

Shorter E. A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press, 2005; p.56-7.

March 12, 2020