Schneider First-Rank Symptoms — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ

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EasySchizophrenia & PsychosisSchneider First-Rank SymptomsMRCPsych Paper B

A 25-year-old woman with first-episode psychosis reports thought broadcasting, thought withdrawal, and third-person voices providing a running commentary on her actions. Which psychiatrist grouped these phenomena as first-rank symptoms in his account of schizophrenia?

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Correct answer: E — Kurt Schneider

Kurt Schneider grouped experiences such as thought broadcasting, thought withdrawal, thought insertion, passivity phenomena, delusional perception, and certain auditory hallucinations—including voices commenting or discussing the person—as first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia. He proposed this framework in 1939; the English edition of Clinical Psychopathology appeared in 1959. These symptoms were historically given substantial diagnostic weight but are not specific or independently diagnostic of schizophrenia. Bleuler coined the term schizophrenia and described its fundamental symptoms; Kraepelin developed the concept of dementia praecox; Jaspers established major principles of descriptive and phenomenological psychopathology; and Freud founded psychoanalysis. Therefore, C is the single best answer.

Reference: Kendler KS, Mishara A. The Prehistory of Schneider's First-Rank Symptoms: Texts From 1810 to 1932. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2019;45(5):971–990. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31206162/