'The schizophrenic basic mood (self-disorder)', by Hans W Gruhle (1929). Issue 3 (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jansson, Lennart; Parnas, Josef
• Is Part Of: History of psychiatry. Volume 31:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: 364
• Page End: 375
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Attunement -- basic symptoms -- Ich-Störung -- mood -- schizophrenia -- self-disorder; Psychiatry -- History -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- History -- Periodicals; 616.89009
• DOI: 10.1177/0957154X20915147
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-154X

Abstract

During the first half of the twentieth century, German psychiatry came to consider ' Ich-Störungen ', best translated as self-disorders, to be important features of schizophrenia. The present text is a translation of a chapter by the German psychiatrist Hans Gruhle, which is extraordinarily clear and emblematic for this research line. Published in 1929, it was part of a book co-written with Josef Berze, The Psychology of Schizophrenia (concerning its subjectivity). Gruhle claims that the essential core of schizophrenia is of an affective nature, a 'mood' manifesting itself as self-disorder, an unstable, incomplete pre-reflective self-awareness. His impact on contemporary psychiatry was probably limited due to his confrontational style, but this text has great significance for the modern revival of phenomenological research in schizophrenia.