Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1265-1271
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
The legacy of Ewald Hecker: a new translation of "Die Hebephrenie". Translated by Marie-Louise Schoelly
MJ Sedler
Early descriptions of schizophrenia may be found in the writings of Haslam
and Morel, but the turning point in the development of the modern concept
was Ewald Hecker's classic paper on hebephrenia in 1871. The syndrome he
described--a psychosis of early onset with a deteriorating course
characterized by a "silly" affect, behavioral peculiarities, and formal
thought disorder--not only adumbrated Kraepelin's generic category of
dementia praecox but quite specifically defined the later subtype of
hebephrenic, or disorganized, schizophrenia as well. The present
translation into English of Hecker's "Die Hebephrenie" makes accessible a
crucial milestone in the history of modern psychiatry.
