No abstract

Since Bleuler introduced his concept of schizophrenia in 1911, there has been a steady growth of clinical and experimental data relating to this disease. However, the literature dealing with early diagnosis is sparse and as yet there is no general agreement as to what symptomatology constitutes the early clinical picture. Older texts (Kraepelin, 1919; Bleuler, 1911) do not elaborate early diagnosis, dwelling more on distinguishing schizophrenia from other disease entities. Likewise, more recent texts tend to refer to the early stages very briefly in rather vague terms, signifying the development of the disease over the first few years from its onset. Although practice varies, the diagnosis of schizophrenia is often reserved until Bleuler's primary symptoms of disordered volition, thinking and affect appear overtly, by which time there may be also some evidence of deterioration. It is recognized, however, that these symptoms may take years to appear (Gillies, 1949) so that early diagnosis cannot readily be made by using these criteria.

2We examined the propensity for male athletes to exhibit symptoms of disordered eating. 3Using meta-analytic techniques, we examined overall effect size, individual effect sizes for 4 specific sport types, standard of athletic competition, and diagnostic tools from 31 studies. 5When all studies were considered as a homogeneous group, male athletes did not have 6 symptoms of disordered eating that were significantly different from non-athletic controls.

In recent years there has been increasing experimental evidence that specific disturbances of perception occur in schizophrenia. Reduced size constancy in schizophrenic patients has been reported in studies by Raush (13), Crookes (6), and Weckowicz (16). Further investigations by Weckowicz and his colleagues (17), have also demonstrated reduced distance constancy in schizophrenia. (The retinal image of an object alters proportionately with the distance at which it is perceived. Size and distance constancy refer to our normal ability to compensate for changes in the stimulus and thereby to retain a stable perception of the object.) Brengelmann (3) and Angyal (1) have shown that schizophrenic patients have difficulty in reproducing briefly exposed visual stimuli. Penrose (12) has shown that schizophrenics perform poorly in a variety of tests involving visual discrimination.