Molecular Genetics and the Kraepelinian Dichotomy: One Disorder, Two Disorders, or Do We Need to Start Thinking Afresh?

摘要

The Kraepelinian dichotomy - the broad division of the major mood and psychotic illnesses of adulthood into schizophrenia and manic depressive illness - has been enshrined in Western psychiatry for more than a century and continues to influence clinical practice, research, and public perceptions of mental illness. Although cogent arguments for abandoning an essentially dichotomous approach in favor of alternative formulations (categorical, dimensional, or continuous) have often been advanced, these have failed to gain widespread support, in part because of lack of robust scientific data, but possibly also because of the practical complexity of applying alternative classifications in clinical practice and research settings.