SCHIZOPHRENIA DOES NOT EXIST

Although patients suffering from what we now call schizophrenia exist and deserve the best possible help, we currently classify under this heading a group of people who are too heterogeneous from a clinical and biological perspective to be thought of as suffering from the same illness. This poses a serious obstacle to advancing our understanding and, therefore, to the treatment of this serious problem. This book proposes that accepting the nonexistence of schizophrenia as a natural entity is a necessary step toward improving our understanding of the underlying pathological processes. Based on the alterations observed in brain processes linked to the altered functions in this syndrome, it would be more feasible to arrive at a valid definition of what is included in what we now call schizophrenia, possibly resulting in its division into pathological entities for which their natural existence can be affirmed.