“So when was Schizophrenia first discovered in history?”
Did you know that the word “schizophrenia” is less than 100 years old.!
Got surprised but there is more box of information related to history and orgin of schizophrenia that will make you even more surprised.
The disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness by Dr. Emile Kraepline in the 1887.
The history and origin dates back to old Pharaonic Egypt.
In ancient Greek and roman times people didnt have any knowlegde of mental disorders and used to categorize people were considered “abnormal” mental disorders under same category without any modern diagnostic method and mostly thought that mental disorders were due to evil force.
Dr. Kraepelin used the term “dementia praecox” for individuals who had symptoms that we now associate with schizophrenia.
In 1887 Dr.kraepline was the first to describe and coin schizophrenia as distinct mental disorder.
The Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, coined the term, “schizophrenia” in 1911. He was also the first to describe the symptoms as “positive” or “negative.”
Both Kraepline and Bleuler categories of Schizoprenia are still used in Dsm 5 which is used by Psychologists around the world.
Schizophernia And Life 