[A psychopathological study of aggression in schizophrenic patients]

For some schizophrenic patients violent behavior occurs during acute phases of their illness. Some of these patients who exhibit violent behavior recover quickly from this phase. Further, there is a marked improvement in the quality life during remission. In this study the psychopathological features of aggression in 24 schizophrenic patients were considered. All of these patients were involuntary emergency admissions due to an uncontrollable violent episode. The interaction between aggression and delusion was categorized as follows: convergent type, aggression due to delusion; reactive type, aggression instigated by hallucination or delusional perception; and divergent type, random outbursts of violence and aggression. The intensity of catatonic features and fixed targets of violence distinguishes convergent type violent schizophrenic patients from reactive and divergent type patients. Convergent aggressive behavior can be more easily treated then the other two types and should have significant bearing over the course of treatment.