title: Is the diagnosis of hysterical psychosis justified?: Clinical study of hysterical psychosis, reactive/psychogenic psychosis, and schizophrenia.
abstract: Using the method of a "blind" retrospective evaluation of clinical charts, 21 female patients with hysterical psychosis were compared with 21 patients diagnosed as suffering from nonhysterical reactive/psychogenic psychosis and 42 patients diagnosed as schizophrenic according to the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). All three groups were restricted to first admissions and matched with regard to sex, age, and year of admission. Many significant differences were found between hysterical psychosis and schizophrenia; the only significant differences between hysterical and nonhysterical reactive/psychogenic psychosis were the presence of histrionic personality and the frequent shift in symptomatology in the former. Thus, both disorders seem to be identical.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Clinic of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Modestin
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Bachmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003291:Conversion Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D010553:Personality Development; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology