Depression in Kraepelinian Schizophrenia (Clinical Report‪)‬

One of the least understood but most common phenomena in schizophrenia are co-morbid mood disorders. (1, 2) Bleuler (cited by Siris (3)) studied depressive phenomenona in schizophrenia as early as 1908. He suggested that the disease process might trigger mood symptoms in schizophrenia, while in other cases mood symptoms take the role of secondary symptoms. Today there is still considerable symptom overlap between schizophrenia and mood disorders, and the relationship between depression and schizophrenia remains controversial. (4) Many patients carry chart diagnoses of both disorders in the clinical setting. Some of the difficulty with the term 'depression' in schizophrenia may be attributed to ambiguity regarding whether the term refers to the particular emotion, i.e. feeling depressed, or to the syndrome of depression, consisting of a constellation of symptoms including a depressed feeling. Unfortunately the literature on depression in schizophrenia is often unclear with regard to whether the symptom or the syndrome of depression is involved. (3)