title: Remitting schizophrenia as a variant of affective disorder.
abstract: Remitting schizophrenia is an important phenomenon in the United States largely because of the broad concept of schizophrenia used here. Clinical and family investigations of this condition suggest a close link between remitting schizophrenia and the affective disorders. However, the elevated morbidity risk of schizophrenia in first-degree relatives of remitting schizophrenics precludes the conclusion that remitting schizophrenia is simply a variant of affective disorders. The following testable hypothesis is consistent with the available data: remitting schizophrenia is a heterogeneous mixture of mania, unipolar depression, and typical schizophrenia. Mania and unipolar depression account for the majority of such disorders although schizophrenia may account for a sizable minority. Other disorders may be included in this mixture; but, their contribution to the remitting schizophrenias is probably small.
mesh_terms: D000341:Affective Disorders, Psychotic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology