[Doctrine of psychopathies: K. Conrad's concept of constitutional types]

The author analyzes K. Conrad's concept of constitutional types based on the suggested differences in ontogenetic development of picnic and leptosomic physique, athletics and asthenics and also dysplastics. K. Conrad's typology is compared with the typology of Italian school of clinical anthropometry and E. Kretschmer's concept of constitutions. K. Conrad's criteria for the division of primary and secondary constitutions are delineated, one of the basic criteria are set by the differences in the physique proportions and tissue development. The different physiological characteristics of picnic and leptosomic constitutions as well as their cardinal mental differences are described. The special description of mental characteristics of the asthenic-hypoplastic type and some dysplastic constitutions is presented. Manic-depressive psychosis is considered by K. Conrad as a diathesis because due to the conservative constitutional development the mental disease in picnics is capable for compensation, schizophrenia is related to the system diseases, the normal leptosomic constitution is a 'milieu' which contributes to the manifestation of schizophrenia due to the peculiarities of ontogenetic constitutional development designated by K. Conrad as propulsive. As a result of this, the disease leads to the defect.