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Karl Philipp Moritz' Journal of Empirical Psychology (1783–1793): an analysis of 124 case reports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

H. Förstl ,
M. Angermeyer  and
R. Howard
H. Förstl*
Affiliation:
Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Mannheim, West Germany
M. Angermeyer
Affiliation:
Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Mannheim, West Germany
R. Howard
Affiliation:
Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Mannheim, West Germany
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Hans Förstl, Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Karl Philipp Moritz edited Gnothi Sauton, the Journal of Empirical Psychology (1783–1793), which stands as the first of numerous psychological and psychiatric periodicals. We evaluated 124 psychiatric or neurological case reports from the journal according to modern diagnostic criteria and present a brief outline of the contributors' and patients' sociodemographic characteristics, selected case reports and the surmised risk factors. A reliable diagnostic reassignment of the well-described cases was feasible; this may indicate that patients retain similar psychiatric disturbances over the centuries. As in the popular literature of the period, examples of ‘sentimental students’ and ‘desperate soldiers’ represented the most frequently discussed, prototypical high-risk personalities in the Journal, which marked the step from literature to empirical science. The influences of this case material upon contemporary psychiatric writing and thought are reviewed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , May 1991 , pp. 299 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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