Thought Pathology in Manic and Schizophrenic Patients: Its Occurrence at Hospital Admission and Seven Weeks Later

To evaluate the extent and persistence of thought pathology in manic patients, 113 manic, schizophrenic, and nonpsychotic patients were assessed at the acute phase, and a subsample was reevaluated seven weeks later. Another subsample of 55 patients was assessed medication free at the acute phase. Three major indices of thought disorder were used. The data indicate that (1) most hospitalized manics are severely thought disordered; (2) hospitalized manics are as thought disordered as schizophrenics; (3) unmedicated manics are as severely thought disordered as unmedicated schizophrenics; (4) both manics' and schizophrenics' thought disorders improve after the acute phase; (5) even after the acute phase, some manics show severe thought pathology. The results support formulations that thought disorder is not unique to schizophrenia. Some factors involved in manic and schizophrenic thought pathology are similar. There may be a general psychosis factor that cuts across psychotic diagnoses.