Hippokratia 2005, 9(1):41-44
A Vaxevanis, A Vidalis
Psychiatric Dpt, Hippokratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
Abstract
One hundred and twenty years after the description of the syndrome by the French doctor Jules Cotard and while the relevant terms can’t be found in the modern diagnostic array, the question of whether the clinical state corresponds to a special nosologic being or whether it is an important indicator of seriousness or chronicity seems to remain unanswered. The syndrome appeared as case report more than 200 times over the last century according to international literature. However, there has been a dramatic decline in the appearance of it recently, probably due to the psycho-pharmacological treatment approach or/and because of the decrease in the number of institutionalized patients. In the present study we describe three cases where it seems that the emotional consistence of the syndrome and, on the other hand, its connection with chronicity/ negligence of psychic disorder need to be taken into account.