Brief Psychoses: Do They Contribute to the Good Prognosis and Equal Prevalence of Schizophrenia in Developing Countries?

A high incidence of brief schizophrenia-like psychosis in Africa and other parts of the developing world has been repeatedly documented by many psychiatrists working in these regions (Dembovitz, 1945; Carothers, 1953; Jilek & Jilek-Aall, 1970; German, 1972; Leighton et al , 1963). This report does not deny that typical schizophrenia occurs in these countries, but the common culturally based schizophrenia like psychosis may be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, and thus inflate prevalence and improve prognosis data.