German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926) popularised the term dementia praecox in his first detailed textbook descriptions of a condition that eventually became a different disease concept later relabeled as schizophrenia. Kraepelin reduced the complex psychiatric taxonomies of the nineteenth century by dividing them into two classes: manic-depressive psychosis and dementia praecox. This division, commonly referred to as the Kraepelinian dichotomy, had a fundamental impact on twentieth-century psychiatry, though it has also been questioned.
german psychiatrist emil kraepelin (1856–1926) popularised the term dementia praecox in his first detailed textbook descriptions of a condition that eventually became a different disease concept later relabeled as schizophrenia kraepelin reduced the complex psychiatric taxonomies of the nineteenth century by dividing them into two classes manic-depressive psychosis and dementia praecox this division commonly referred to as the kraepelinian dichotomy had a fundamental impact on twentieth-century psychiatry though it has also been questioned