schizophrenia etymology

Etymology

The term "schizophrenia" was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908, and it is derived from two Greek words:

• "Schizein": to split or cleave
• "Phren": mind

Meaning

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a splitting of the mind, resulting in a breakdown of thought, emotion, and behavior. Symptoms can include:

• Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or experiencing things that are not there)
• Delusions (firmly held beliefs that are not based in reality)
• Disorganized thinking and speech
• Impaired social functioning and motivation
• Negative symptoms (e.g., reduced emotional expression, lack of interest in activities)

Origin

Bleuler used the term "schizophrenia" to describe a group of patients who exhibited these symptoms, distinguishing them from patients with other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and manic depression. He believed that schizophrenia was a chronic and incurable disease that resulted from a fundamental splitting of the personality.

While Bleuler's original concept of schizophrenia has been revised over time, the term remains widely used to refer to a group of severe and debilitating mental disorders that share core symptoms of thought and behavioral fragmentation.

schizophrenia relate terms

• schizoid

  Etymology Schizoid is derived from the Greek words schizein meaning to split oid

• schizophrenia

  Etymology The term schizophrenia was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in

• schizophrenic

• schizophrenia

  Etymology The term schizophrenia was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in

• dementia

  Etymology The word dementia comes from the Latin word demens which means out of one

• disorder

  Etymology Middle English disordre Old French dësorde Latin disordo from dis apar

• ether

  Etymology The word ether comes from the Ancient Greek word aither αἰθήρ whi

• agony

  Etymology Greek ἀγωνία agōnia Meaning Contest struggle painful distr

• crucible

  Etymology Old French creuset Late Latin crucibulum a diminutive of crux cross Latin

• affinity

  Etymology Latin affinitas meaning relationship by marriage Old French affinité

• clean

  Etymology The word clean comes from the Middle English word clene which is derived f

• sojourn

  Etymology Old French sojornee Late Latin subdiurnatus Latin sub meaning und

• Amazon

  Etymology The name Amazon is derived from the Greek word Ἀμαζών Amazōn wh

• comprise

  Etymology Old French comprendre Latin comprendere Proto Indo European kom prenh₁