The Psychology of Dementia Præcox/Conclusion
CONCLUSION.
I do not imagine that I have offered anything conclusive in this work; this domain is too extensive and as yet too obscure for that. It would be far beyond the power of a single person to carry out in the course of a few years all the experimental work himself which alone could support my hypothetical views. I have to content myself with the hope that the above case of dementia præcox, analyzed as thoroughly as possible, will give the reader an idea of how we think and work here. If in addition to this he will consider the fundamental thoughts and experimental proofs of the "Diagnostischen Assoziationsstudien" he will perhaps be placed in a position to form for himself a detailed picture of the psychological point of view from which we study the morbid mental changes of dementia præcox. I am perfectly conscious of the fact that the above case only partially confirms the views presented in the preceding chapters and that it can only serve as a paradigm for certain kinds of paranoid dementia. It manifestly does not touch the wide domains of catatonia and hebephrenia. So far as relates to these I must prepare the reader to expect future contributions to the "Diagnostischen Assoziationsstudien" which will, I anticipate, contain some further experimental work in connection with the psychology of dementia præcox.
I have made it easy for the critics; my work has many weak points and gaps for which I beg the reader's kindly consideration. The critic, however, must be regardless in the interest of truth. Somebody had to take it upon himself at length to set the stone rolling.