Paranoid vs hebephrenic schizophrenia: clinical and familial (genetic) heterogeneity.

By the use of familial and genetic methods, data are presented which suggest that hebephrenic and paramoid schizophrenia are separate illnesses. The two entities have different clinical pictures and different outcomes. Hebephrenia shows a higher familial risk for schizophrenia than paramoid schizophrenia and most available data reveal that hebephrenia breeds true in the family. The relevance of the possibility that schizophrenia is composed of more than one autonomous illness to some current pharmacological theories and treatment studies is presented.