A form of SCHIZOPHRENIA that comes on in youth and is marked by depression and gradual failure of mental faculties with egotistic and self-centred delusions.
(disorganized schizophrenia) n. an often chronic form of *schizophrenia that typically starts in adolescence or young adulthood. The most prominent features are disordered thinking, inappropriate affect, flattening or shallowness of affect, naivety and vulnerability, thoughtless cheerfulness, apathy, and aimless or disjointed behaviour. Social and occupational rehabilitation are the most important therapies for most patients; *antipsychotic drugs are also efficacious. —hebephrenic adj.
Health Encyclopedia