Schizophrenia with premorbid inferiority feelings. A distinct subgroup?

This study examines whether the presence of premorbid inferiority feelings (PIFs) defines a distinct subgroup of schizophrenia. Of 122 clinically diagnosed schizophrenics, 93% of whom met DSM-III criteria for schizophrenic disorder, 31 were found to have PIFs. By family history, schizophrenia was significantly less common in first-degree relatives of schizophrenics with (1.5%) than without (9.1%) PIFs, while affective disorders were equally common in both groups of relatives. Compared with schizophrenics without PIFs, schizophrenics with PIFs were significantly more likely to have been in a stressful environment at the onset of their disorder, to have an embarrassing physical handicap, to be less severely thought-disordered, and to have a lower rate of relapse on follow-up. From a genetic, etiologic, symptomatic, and prognostic perspective, the presence of PIFs may define a distinct subgroup of schizophrenia.