From "schizophrenia" to "disturbance of the integrity of the self": causes and consequences of renaming schizophrenia in Japan in 2002

• Published in: Nervenarzt 2011-09, Vol.82 (9), p.1160-1168
• Main Authors: Umehara, H, Fangerau, H, Gaebel, W, Kim, Y, Schott, H, Zielasek, J
• Format: Article
• Language: ger
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Ego; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - psychology; Humans; International Classification of Diseases; Japan; Schizophrenia - classification; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenia - ethnology; Schizophrenia - genetics; Schizophrenic Psychology; Self Psychology; Sick Role; Social Stigma; Terminology as Topic
• ISSN: 1433-0407
• DOI: 10.1007/s00115-010-3208-0

In August 2002 the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology decided to rename the Japanese expression for schizophrenia from Sêshin Bunretsu Byô to Tôgô Shicchô Shô. Currently the psychiatric classification systems ICD-10 and DSM-IV are under revision. Against this background the Japanese process of renaming a psychiatric disorder is of high interest as far as the clinical, social and cultural implications of the new name are concerned.The authors give an overview of the Japanese process of renaming schizophrenia. Its background and realization are explained and the expectations of Japanese physicians, patients and their families related to the new name are analysed. Furthermore, its effects are evaluated. The aim of the paper is to clarify in how far the Japanese example may serve as a model for evaluating the possible implications that a renaming or nosological redefinition of schizophrenia might have in the course of the revision process of ICD 10 and DSM IV.