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Contemporary Psychiatry pp 1279–1288Cite as

Organic Personality Changes

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Abstract

The traditional concept of “organic personality change” implies a lasting and irreversible change of personality structure, behavior, and affect in consequence of changes in the brain of whatever origin. In its clinical application, the term “organic” in this context refers to psychopathological manifestations produced by a morbid disturbance of brain function. Kraepelin (1909) and other authors validated this concept largely in the context of a single construct, that of the so-called epileptic personality change. According to the classical understanding, the epileptic personality change is characterized by (among other features) viscous, perseverative, circumstantial, and diffuse thinking; loss of initiative; certain affective abnormalities; and a dedifferentiation, or leveling out, of premorbid personality traits.

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Authors
  1. H. J. Freyberger
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  2. L. G. Schmidt
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, P.O. Box 12 21 20, 68072, Mannheim, Germany

    Fritz Henn

  2. Belle-Idée, Bâtiment Salève, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, 2, chemin du Petit-Bel-Air, 1225, Chêne-Bourg/Genève, Switzerland

    Norman Sartorius

  3. Psychiatrische Klinik, Freie Universität Berlin, Eschenallee 3, 14050, Berlin, Germany

    Hanfried Helmchen

  4. Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, München, Germany

    Hans Lauter

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Freyberger, H.J., Schmidt, L.G. (2001). Organic Personality Changes. In: Henn, F., Sartorius, N., Helmchen, H., Lauter, H. (eds) Contemporary Psychiatry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59519-6_77

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59519-6_77

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64007-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-59519-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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