Where did the word schizophrenia come from?
History of schizophrenia
The word "schizophrenia"—which translates roughly as "splitting of the mind" and comes from the Greek roots "schizein" (σχίζειν, "to split") and "phrēn", "phren-" (φρήν, φρεν-, "mind")—was coined by Eugen Bleuler in 1908 and was intended to describe the separation of function between personality, thinking, memory, and perception. Bleuler described the main symptoms as four "A"'s: flattened "Affect", "Autism", impaired "Association" of ideas and "Ambivalence". Bleuler realized that the illness was not a dementia as some of his patients improved rather than deteriorated and hence proposed the term "schizophrenia" instead. However, many at the time did not accept that splitting or dissociation was an appropriate description, and the term would later have more significance as a source of confusion and social stigma than scientific meaning.
History of schizophrenia
Kraepelin's classification slowly gained acceptance. There were objections to the use of the term "dementia" despite cases of recovery, and some defence of diagnoses it replaced such as adolescent insanity. The concept of adolescent insanity or developmental insanity had been advanced by Scottish psychiatrist Sir Thomas Clouston in 1873, describing a psychotic condition which generally afflicted those aged 18–24 years, particularly males, and in 30% of cases proceeded to ‘a secondary dementia’.