[Dynamics of negative disorders and the problem of differentiating paroxysmal schizophrenia (epidemiologic study)]

The task was set to elaborate, using random material, a systematics of paroxysm-like schizophrenia on the basis of the characteristics of the time-course of negative disturbances and comparison with the current systematics formed on the basis of the clinical experience. The authors analyzed the course of the disease in all registered patients with paroxysm-like schizophrenia (3928 individuals) living in four administrative districts of Moscow. Seven major variants of paroxysm-like schizophrenia have been identified. The prognosis of the disease is more favourable in cases where it first manifests itself by mild negative changes. The time-course of adverse changes determines the development of productive disturbances and their level both in paroxysms and remissions. The relationship between these phenomena indicates certain pathogenetic independence of each of the identified variants of the disease course.