Negative Symptoms in Psychiatry: Psychobiological & Psychosocial Aspects

The Tilak Venkoba Rao Oration is for the young scientist and before I deliberate on my subject it is my honoured right to speak for the young psychiatrists in our country. I have observed and experienced that the young psychiatrist is the most unfortunate person during his academic career. He is often discouraged from all quarters, so much so, that he feels that he has to struggle in order to do any work. Not to work and not to aspire are the easiest ways. The young psychiatrist faces numerous uphill obstructions all along and perhaps may be frustrated and fall into the streamline of complacency and academic politicking. For the advancement of our discipline and science, undoubtedly, the younger scientists have to take lead and shoulder the responsibilities. The demoralisation, discouragement and the crushing of the younger scientists is thus very hazardous. In light of these, I feel proud and honoured to have been awarded this oppurtunity to present my work on negative symptoms. No words would be sufficient to thank Professor Venkoba Rao for having initiated this award, and I would like to thank Professor Nandi and the judges of the awards committee for this award being given to me. I am also grateful to numerous collegues who have worked with me on negative symptoms. After these few words about negative attitudes towards young psychiatrists I would present my research work on Negative Symptoms in Psychiatric disorders. In the nineteen eighties there have been many subjects which have attracted attention, by far maximum research interests have been captured by the study of negative symptoms in psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric researchers have taken up the challanging task of redefining negative symptoms, attempts at validating the concept and devising measures for their reliable quantification. Last and not the least, is the unfathomable challenge of the treatment of negative symptoms, which can be very frustrating. It is really commendable that numerous researchers in different parts of the world are concentrating on a psyehopathological aspect which is strife with controversy and challenge. Thus the terms positive and negative symptoms have slipped into the language of contemporary psychiatry with comparative ease. It is not uncommon for these expressions to be used with little explanation, with the implicit understanding that their meaning is understood and that somehow they are of value to our knowledge of psychopathology (Trimble 1986).