Author: Carl Jung

Publisher: Livraria Press

Published: 2024-05-09

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 3689384958

On the Psychology of the Dementia Praecox (über die Psychologie der Demerrtia praecox) is an early work by Jung during his clinical days. This work focused on what was then called "dementia praecox," a term coined by Emil Kraepelin that later evolved into what we now know as schizophrenia. This edition is a new translation from the original German manuscript with an Afterword by the Translator, a philosophic index of Jung's terminology and a timeline of his life and works. In this foundational study, Jung analyzes what we now call schizophrenia, focusing on the inner experiences of patients suffering from what was then termed dementia praecox. He offers an early psychological framework for understanding how these individuals experience a breakdown in reality, characterized by cognitive fragmentation and detachment from the external world. This work played a key role in shaping later psychiatric approaches to schizophrenia by emphasizing the importance of subjective psychological experiences over mere symptom observation. Jung’s insights helped move the field of psychiatry beyond external behavior analysis, encouraging a deeper exploration of the internal, subjective worlds of patients with psychosis. His pioneering approach also laid the groundwork for future studies on the collective unconscious, a key element in his later theoretical work. Jung’s study of dementia praecox marks a significant shift from the purely biological or somatic approaches to mental illness that were dominant in psychiatry at the time. Rather than focusing solely on the observable symptoms of the disorder, such as hallucinations or delusions, Jung sought to understand the underlying psychological processes contributing to the disintegration of the patient's personality. He suggested that these symptoms were manifestations of deeper conflicts within the psyche, rooted in the unconscious. One of Jung’s key contributions in this work was his emphasis on subjective, internal experiences, as opposed to only outward symptoms. He examined the patient's psychological landscape, emphasizing that schizophrenia involved a profound disturbance in how individuals related to both their inner worlds and external reality. Jung hypothesized that these patients’ hallucinations and delusions were attempts by the unconscious mind to compensate for the breakdown of normal psychological functioning. In this sense, Jung's interpretation laid the groundwork for understanding psychosis as a form of psychic conflict rather than merely a biological or neurological disorder.