Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: An Empirical Benchmark Study of Real-world Diagnostic Accuracy and Reliability Among Leading International Psychiatrists.

Background And Hypothesis: Assigning a psychiatric diagnosis in real-world situations is often difficult, given that the clinical presentation does not usually conform to the list of condensed, simplified behavioral descriptors of mainstream operational taxonomies (MOT) (eg, ICD-11 and DSM-5). The goal of this study was to benchmark diagnostic accuracy and reliability on a central and severe spectrum of psychopathology (ie, the schizophrenia spectrum disorders [SSDs]), adopting a pragmatic approach as close as possible to real-world clinical settings.

Study Design: We examined the diagnostic performance of 30 international psychiatrists experts in SSD.

An Empirical-Phenomenological Exploration of Anderssein (Feeling Different) in Schizophrenia: Being in-between Particular and Universal.

Introduction: In this paper, we wish to elucidate alterations of basic existential and intersubjective configurations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) through the phenomenon of Anderssein ("feeling different"). Anderssein is an important yet neglected notion from German psychiatry, referring to a specific sense of feeling profoundly different from others occurring in SSD. Although phenomenological-psychopathological research mentions it as an aspect of the core disturbance of SSD (namely, "self-disorders"), the phenomenon has not yet been explored in empirical or theoretical detail.

The phenomenological nature of schizophrenia and disorder of selfhood.

Schizophrenia continues its resistance to the pathogenetic understanding. We believe that one of the reasons is an oblivion of schizophrenia's characteristic Gestalt expressive of its psychopathological structure. In this article we argue for a crucial role of disorders of selfhood in the constitution of this Gestalt.

Altered cardiac autonomic functioning associates with self-disorders in schizophrenia.

Elevated resting heart rate (RHR) and reduced heart rate variability (HRV) are signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction identified in schizophrenia (SCZ). This dysfunction has been found to manifest prior to the onset of the clinical diagnosis. Yet whether such autonomic dysfunction is associated with vulnerability to schizophrenia remains unknown.