Autism in schizophrenia revisited.
J Parnas, P Bovet
Comprehensive Psychiatry 1991 DOI: 10.1016/0010-440x(91)90065-k (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Bleuler's focus on withdrawal contributed to the decline of the autism concept in adult psychiatry, and proposes, drawing on phenomenological accounts by Minkowski, Binswanger, and Blankenburg, that autism represents dysfunctional perceptual/expressive attunement to the outer world. The authors suggest this relational framing may be useful for understanding the diagnosis and etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. |
Abstract
The concept of autism is reviewed in its historical evolution. It is suggested that the Bleulerian insistence on the withdrawal component in autism contributed to the decline of its use in adult psychiatry. Phenomenology offers another approach to grasping the nature of autism as a relational (subject-outer world) phenomenon. European phenomenological psychiatry in the field of schizophrenia is introduced and its attempts to reveal the essence of autism are presented. Autism is here considered as a "loss of vital contact with reality" (Minkowski), "inconsistency of natural experience" (Binswanger), or "the global crisis of common sense" (Blankenburg). It is proposed that autism represents dysfunctional perceptual/expressive attunement to the outer world. The usefulness of this concept is briefly examined in relation to the diagnosis and etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia.
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- Ego-Dissolution and Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory (EDI) Frontiers in Human Neuroscience June 14, 2016
- Self, Solipsism, and Schizophrenic Delusions Philosophy, psychiatry & psychology June 1, 2001
- Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Consciousness and Cognition July 1, 2016
- Double bookkeeping and schizophrenia spectrum: divided unified phenomenal consciousness. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience December 1, 2021
- Disordered Selfhood in Schizophrenia and the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience: Accumulated Evidence and Experience. Psychopathology 2021
and 15 more in the library