Review of the concept of personality deterioration in schizophrenia

Thirty-two patients suffering from schizophrenia (according to DSM-III, and chronic evolution characteristics, have been studied for 10 years. All of them presented signs of schizophrenic deterioration. They had been institutionalized for five years at least, with no leave at all. Some trends of psychiatry highlighting schizophrenic deterioration as an irreversible residual phenomenon are referred to as well as the biological studies relating causitively deterioration to atrophic alterations of the brain. During research, combined features from both therapeutic, and rehabilitation techniques were administered to the population under study, namely: Individual Psychotherapy, Family Psychotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and biological treatments. Nine patients presented a paranoidical form of schizophrenia; 6, a disorganized form; 4, an indifferenciated form; 5, a residual form, and 5, a catatonic form. Close to the end of research, 22 patients were given their discharge certificate after recovery; two were discharged but came back to hospital for short admissions; four are still institutionalized with no improvement foreseen; two are still institutionalized, however at a rehabilitation stage. Finally, two patients passed away during research. It is the author's contention that these results show a symptomatic variability determining that 70% of cases considered as clinical observations are intended to be construed as a dynamic phenomenon--and not as a static-crystallized one.