[Autism: exploring historical psychiatric and psychological concepts]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• History of Medicine

Context:

• The concept of autism emerged from psychoanalytic influences on 20th-century psychiatry.
• Eugen Bleuler's work on schizophrenia integrated psychological approaches, including psychoanalysis.
• The term's initial definition was broad, impacting its subsequent applications.

Purpose:

• To trace the conceptual history and semantic expansion of the term 'autism'.
• To analyze how the scope of 'autism' broadened beyond its original clinical context.
• To examine the decreasing psychopathological utility of 'autism' due to its vagueness.

Summary:

• Initially, 'autism' described a symptom of schizophrenia, influenced by psychoanalytic thought.
• The term's scope expanded to include schizoid personality disorder and other phenomena, leading to decreased specificity.
• Widespread colloquial use further diluted its clinical meaning, restricting its psychiatric application to autism spectrum disorders.

Impact:

• Understanding the historical evolution of 'autism' is crucial for accurate clinical and research applications.
• The semantic drift of 'autism' highlights challenges in psychiatric terminology.
• Distinguishing clinical and colloquial uses of 'autism' is essential for modern psychiatry.