TREMA, APOPHANY, APOCALYPSE - IS THERE AN EMPIRICAL-BASIS FOR CONRADSPHASE MODEL

Among several phase models of beginning schizophrenia, the study by Co nrad (,,Die beginnende Schizophrenie. Versuch einer Gestaltanalyse des Wahns'') was particularly impressive in German psychiatry. The ABC-Sc hizophrenia-study with its representative sample of 267 first-admissio ns and a careful retrospective assessment of emerging symptomatology m ade it possible to test the empirical basis of Conrad's model. In this operationalization ''trema'' was confirmed as the frequent first stag e of the disease process, whereas Conrad's hypothesized order of the t wo following phases (first ''apophany'', then ''apocalypse'') could no t be validated. Therefore, Conrad's model cannot completely be general ized. Because the methods employed so far have some limitations, analy ses of additional data (especially reports by significant others) may control and probably enhance the presented results.