The Fall and Rise of Adolf Meyer's Psychogenic Etiology of Dementia Praecox (Schizophrenia): 1903–1910 and Beyond

Abstract

Schizophrenia etiology has been variably attributed to biological, psychodynamic, or ecological factors. Adolf Meyer (1866–1950) pioneered a psychogenic model of schizophrenia etiology that waned in popularity as biomedical and Freudian theories became dominant. With the increasing acceptance of the role of social factors in the onset of psychosis comes the renewed relevance of Meyer's theories. This article describes the psychogenic theory of schizophrenia etiology, as expressed by Meyer through a series of papers from 1903 to 1910, in the context of contemporaneous theories. The importance of Meyer's psychogenic theory as the forerunner to current psychosocial theories of psychopathology is discussed.

Keywords:

• schizophrenia
• etiology
• mental health
• psychosis
• history

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank Barbara Simon and Hans Oh for helpful comments in the preparation of this manuscript.