The origin of dementia praecox.

ABSTRACT

Throughout history, insanity--including dementia praecox--has been a complex problem. In the search for a better understanding of dementia praecox, several theories arose from the pre-Kraepelinian concept of human madness that led to the proposal of a new definition in anatomicoclinical terms. This short historical review begins in classical times and ends with the formulation of the concept of dementia praecox in 1896 by Emil Kraepelin (1856 1926).