[Success in studies and course of illness in regard to schizophrenic students (author's transl)]

When treating schizophrenic students, the problem of whether the student ought to continue his studies frequently arises. To obtain a basis for criteria, a written questionnaire was sent to students who were treated as in-patients at the Universitäts-Nervenklinik in Tübingen between 1972 and 1978. By means of these questionnaires, details were obtained about progress of the patients' studies and illness. Of the 122 students approached, posttreatment information was submitted for 80.3%. Of these, two-fifths had discontinued their studies and one-fifth had completed them, were still studying, or had committed suicide. The difference between those who had completed their studies and those who had discontinued them could be attributed to a more favorable course of illness, as far as clinical criteria are concerned, with a more acute beginning to the illness, shorter in-patient treatment, and a more episodic course. The horrifyingly frequent cases of suicide seem to be less often a psychotic symptom than a reaction to the effects of the illness experienced by the patient that influence his ability to make contact and his studies. Students are particularly affected by schizophrenia, since the cognitive disturbances connected with this illness have a much greater effect on their work than on work of a less intellectual kind. Criteria for the indication of discontinuing studies and ideas on treatment and suicide prophylactic are developed from the above results and from clinical experience with schizophrenic students.