Main description:

Brief and acute psychotic disorders with a short duration and a generally good prognosis have long intrigued psychiatrists. Although they are included in internationally accepted diagnostic systems, understanding of these disorders remains minimal. This book is the first comprehensive overview of the clinical features, biology, course and long-term outcome of brief and acute psychoses. The authors review the world literature on the topic and they also present data from their own longitudinal study - the most complete investigation of this group of disorders so far conducted. The book concludes with considerations of the nosological status of brief and acute psychoses and their impact on our understanding of the continuum of psychotic and affective disorders.

Contents:

Part I. History and Concepts: 1. Psychiatric sculptors and psychiatric sculptures: the unformed clay and Kraepelin's vision; 2. Concepts and synonym; Part II. Studies and Findings: 3. Studies on brief and acute psychoses; 4. Frequency and sociobiographic characteristics of acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATPD) and brief psychoses (BP); 5. The clinical features of the acute episode; 6. Treatment; 7. The longitudinal course; 8. The long-term outcome; 9. Suicidal behaviour; 10. Comorbidity and somatic findings; Part III. Issues of Nosology: 11. Defining the brief, acute and transient psychotic disorders: the polymorphic psychotic core; 12. What are brief, acute and transient psychotic disorders?; 13. Brief polymorphic psychoses as a component of a psychotic continuum; Appendix; References; Index.