The nosologic status of the remitting atypical psychoses

For many decades clinicians have recognized the importance of some nonorganic psychoses that have no obvious relationship to either schizophrenia or affective illness. These atypical psychoses are characterized by sudden onset, florid and fluid symptoms, brief duration, remitting outcome, and a pattern of recurrences. They are presumed to be caused by major stress or characterologic defects or both. Systematic investigations into these conditions have been comparatively sparse. This report reviews the literature concerning these remitting atypical psychoses, proposes descriptive criteria for their recognition, and makes suggestions for further research.