Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Jablensky.
On the basis of data derived from a long-term follow-up of 12 cases and a 2-year follow-up of the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia it is suggested that some patients with remitting schizophrenic illnesses can subsequently present clear-cut affective disorders. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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Classification is a fundamental cognitive activity of ordering the objects of the external and the internal (phenomenological) world into sets on the basis of their relationships. The strategies employed vary from the search of "focal essences" identifying natural classes to the purely statistical approach of numerical taxonomy. Medical classifications are eclectic and pragmatic, without clear predominance of any single strategy. In addition to having its share of the general problems of medical taxonomies, classification in psychiatry has to face the dilemma of classifying diseases or people and their problems. The implications of this for the 10th revision of ICD are examined, and criteria for a good classification are tentatively laid down.
"Comparative psychiatry", which Kraepelin advocated 70 years ago, evolves today through the development of the epidemiological apporach in mental health. But its development is still hampered, by two methodological difficulties: 1. problems of definition of the "case"; 2. problems of evaluation, measure and classification of mental disorders. This has emphasized the need for an international common language for the description of mental health problems. The chapter V--Mental Disorders--of the International Classification of Diseases, in its 9th revision, illustrates the importance of such action. But the agreement on a diagnostic classification is only partially resolving the problem, because the concrete value of the classification is dependent on the reliability and validity of primary data on the patient. The World Health Organization is actively contributing to the standardization of assessment instruments; the Mental Health programme emphasizes the need for further efforts to elaborate a common language in mental health, both among psychiatrists from different countries, and between psychiatrists and planners of public health and other mental health personnel.