Frequency and Phenomenology of Persisting Alterations in Affective, Schizoaffective and Schizophrenic Disorders: A Comparison

Investigating the long-term outcome of affective, schizoaffective and schizophrenic disorders, a model that integrated the operationally gathered findings with the 'interactional atmosphere' experienced by the clinician was applied. Eight different types of phenomenological constellations of persisting alterations were delineated (depletion syndrome, apathetic-paranoid (respectively apathetic-hallucinatory) syndrome, adynamic deficiency syndrome, chronic psychosis, structural deformation, slight asthenic insufficiency syndrome, chronic subdepressive syndrome, chronic hyperthymic syndrome. Former assumptions that cross-sectionally the persisting alterations in affective disorders are usually indistinguishable from those in schizophrenia could not be confirmed.