Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum

Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum (December 28, 1828, Driesen - April 15, 1899) was a German psychiatrist who practiced medicine at Wehlau and Königsberg before becoming director of the mental hospital at Görlitz, Prussia in 1867. He would remain at Görlitz for the remainder of his life.He is primarily known for research he did in Görlitz with his associate Ewald Hecker regarding studies done on young psychotic patients. Kalhlbaum and Hecker were among the first to describe and categorize syndromes of the mentally ill. They used descriptive terms such as dysthymia, cyclothymia, catatonia, paranoia and hebephrenia in their analyses. In doing this, they were pioneers in the application of modern clinical practices in the study of mental health. The eminent psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin found their work to be a major influence concerning his studies of dementia praecox and manic depression.

Kahlbaum referred to what is known today as schizophrenia as "Jugendliche Irresein" or "juvenile madness", and stressed the importance of parental upbringing to prevent this condition from occurring. However he is better known for his study of catatonia. In his monograph, "Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein", he characterized catatonia as disturbance in motor functionality that represents a phase in a progressive illness that includes stages of mania, depression and psychosis that typically ends in dementia.The eponymous "Kahlbaum's syndrome" is a catatonic symptom characterized by continuous and purposeless rhythmic repetition of words and sentences that are meaningless or insignificant.

cientific works

* "Die Gruppierung der psychischen Krankheiten und die Einteilung der Seelenstörungen", 1863
* "Die Katatonie", 1874

References

* Lanczik, M. (1992). "Karl Kahlbaum (1828-1899) and the Emergence of Psychopathological and Nosological Research in German psychiatry. History of Psychiatry 3"
* [http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/160/7/1233 Kahlbaum and his work with Catatonia]
* [http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/624.html Who Named It?; Karl Kahlbaum]

Persondata
NAME = Kahlbaum, Karl Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = German psychiatrist
DATE OF BIRTH = December 28, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH = Driesen
DATE OF DEATH = April 15, 1899
PLACE OF DEATH = Görlitz