Kraepelin's concept of manic-depressive insanity: one hundred years later

Abstract

Kraepelin's work is frequently cited and repeatedly interpreted as groundwork for the categorical classification of mental disorders. The scope of this paper is to present a fragment of Kraepelin's contribution to the nosology of manic-depressive illness from another point of view. Studying conscientiously the original text written by Emil Kraepelin more than one hundred years ago, the reader could conclude that the author's attitudes were more in line with numerous contemporaries who promote the dimensional approach to the classification in psychiatry and spectrum concept of mood disorders. This text is an attempt to inspire the reader to examine the original textbook.