Impaired Abstract Thinking in Some Neurotic Patients

Objectives: The aim of this study is to confirm the main hypothesis of this work indicating that impairment of abstract thinking is met with in non psychotic psychiatric patients more than is usually believed. Method: The study group consists of 60 subjects; 20 non psychotic psychiatric patients (1 0 obsessives and 10 conversion), 20 schizophrenic patients and normal subjects. Impaired abstract thinking was measured with the Goldstein Sherrer and Rakhawy’s proverb test. Degree of neuroticism and psychoticism were measured by Eysenck personality questionnaire. Results: Analysis indicated that obsessives, have superior degree of abstraction than normals. Conversion patients are the nearer group to schizophrenia. No correlation was found between degree of impaired abstract thinking and psychoticism and neuroticism of EPQ. Conclusion: Formal thought disorder is not pathognomonic of schizophrenia. Formal thought disorder could be mixed in normals with a certain degree of tolerance of vagueness and malleability, if not finely assessed.