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v. Discussion and Conclusions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 January 2018
Extract
The task now arises to indicate the significance which should be given to the findings described in earlier pages. There are three possible theories by which the combination of a schizophrenia-like psychosis with a pre-existing epilepsy might be accounted for. First the combination might be co-incidental, due purely to chance, in which case there would be no medical problem of any consequence. Secondly the occurrence of epileptic fits might tend to precipitate the psychosis in individuals genetically predisposed, who otherwise would have had better chances of escaping such a development. Thirdly the psychosis might be the direct consequence of the epilepsy, and therefore to be regarded as an epileptic and not a schizophrenic disorder in the aetiological sense. Fourthly it would be possible to suppose that in any given collection of cases representatives of more than one of these causal chains could be found. These theories may be discussed in turn.
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- Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1963
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