Wimmer’s concept of psychogenic psychosis revisited

Bibliographic Data

ID19445647
AuthorsAugusto C Castagnini (0000-0002-0652-0264, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume21
Issue1
Pages54-66
Publication date2010-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0957-154X • E-ISSN: 1740-2360
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0957154x09338086
PMID21877430
OpenAlexW2158536161
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited33

In the early twentieth century the Danish psychiatrist August Wimmer (1872—1937) developed the concept of psychogenic psychosis (PP) as a category of mental disorders separate from schizophrenia and manic depression. It subsumed a variety of clinical conditions with affective, confusional and paranoid features typically triggered by a psychical trauma. Wimmer’s work has established itself as one of the classic texts in Scandinavian psychiatry but, for linguistic reasons, long remained almost unknown in other European countries. Translated into English in 2003, it is now available for historical and psychopathological analyses. This paper describes the original meaning of PP and sets it in context, then discusses the implications arising from the usage of the diagnostic categories introduced to replace PP in modern international classifications

Paranoid schizophrenia · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychogenic disease · Psychopathology · Psychosis · Psychotherapist · History · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Neurology and Historical Studies · Psychology · Schizophrenia research and treatment

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub