Emotional disorders in schizophrenia - A cognitive perspective

On the basis of clinical observations in psychiatry and results of factor-analytic studies on the dimensionality of symptoms, three potentially independent emotional disorders can be distinguished in schizophrenics: reactivity deficits of the emotional system, emotional processing deficits and mood disorders. The role of the emotions in the regulation of action and information processing is discussed with reference to findings and models of cognitive emotion psychology. Reactivity deficits of the emotional system as appearing in the symptom of affective flattening should be considered to be etiologically primary, when compared to other negative symptoms like anhedonia or loss of drive. Emotional processing deficits may play a crucial pathogenetic role in the schizophrenic disorganization syndrom. Emotional processing deficits in hebephrenic schizophrenics are discussed by applying the emotion model of Dorner. Approaches to future research on the reactivity of the emotional system in schizophrenia are presented.