SOMATIC DELUSIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND THE AFFECTIVE PSYCHOSES

Background. Delusions relating to the body, a ready source of informat ion about the immediate experiences of psychotic patients, have not be en systematically studied. We attempted an account of the phenomena, l ooking for differences between diagnostic groupings in the type and la teralisation of such phenomena, and for evidence of localisation. Meth od. Somatic delusions elicited at interview with 550 Research Diagnost ic Criteria-diagnosed psychotic patients were categorised according to content, and the results were compared across diagnostic groupings. R esults. Significant differences were demonstrated, both at the level o f individual delusions and in the nature and overall pattern of such d elusions. There were also differences between diagnostic groups in the choice of body parts involved. Among male patients there were signifi cant differences in laterality between the groups, with schizophrenic subjects locating abnormal phenomena principally on the left and depre ssive subjects on the right. A provisional taxonomy of bodily delusion s was developed. Conclusion. Phenomenological differences between the psychoses were demonstrated and the results offer some support for cur rent hypotheses of localisation of brain dysfunction in the psychotic illnesses.