title: [Causality in psychiatry].
abstract: In a brief epistemological and historical review the problem of the attribution of the causal connections as one example of the construction of coherence in 'reality' is discussed. To construe causal connections is but one of our mental activities to relate events or objects, competing with other non-causal determinations: sequential, functional, teleological, statistical, dialectic. The attribution of causal connections is a valuable, but always approximative heuristic means of scientific exploration. The concurring etio-pathogenetic concepts of schizophrenias and borderline-disorders are dealt with to exemplify the actual problems in psychiatric research.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Burghölzli Forschungsdirektion, Zürich.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scharfetter
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010684:Philosophy; D011599:Psychopathology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012931:Social Environment