Cenesthopathy (from French: cénestopathie, formed from the Ancient Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κοινός "common", Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: αἴσθησῐς "feeling", "perception" + Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πᾰ́θος "feeling, suffering, condition"), also known as coenesthesiopathy, is a rare psychiatric term used to refer to the feeling of being ill and this feeling is not localized to one region of the body.[1] Most notably, cenesthopathies are characterized by aberrant and strange bodily sensations (for example, a feeling of wires or coils being present within the oral region; tightening, burning, pressure, tickling etc. occurring in various parts of the body, and so on).[2]
| Type [3] | Etymology | Clinical description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coenesthesiopathy (cenesthopathy) | "Coenesthesia" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κοινός + Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [αἴ]σθησῐς) + -"pathy". | A pathological alteration in the sense of bodily being, caused by abnormal, bizarre sensations in the body. | |
| Hypercoenesthesiopathy (hypercenesthopathy) | ("hyper-", from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: hupér, "excess") + "coenesthesiopathy") | A hypertrophic alteration in the sense of bodily being, caused by abnormal, bizarre sensations in the body. | |
| Hypocoenesthesiopathy (hypocenesthopathy) | ("hypo-", from Ancient Greek ὑπό (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: hupó, "under") + coenesthesiopathy) | A hypotrophic alteration in the sense of bodily being, caused by abnormal, bizarre sensations in the body. | |
| Paracoenesthesiopathy (paracenesthopathy) | ("para-", from Ancient Greek παρά (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: pará, "beside, by, contrary to") + coenesthesiopathy) | A qualitative alteration in the sense of bodily being, caused by abnormal, bizarre sensations in the body. | |
| Acoenesthesiopathy[4] (acenesthopathy) | ("a-", from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, "not") + coenesthesiopathy) | A total absence of the sense of physical existence. |
The established occurrence of coenesthetic hallucinations in 18% of individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia has led to the formulation of a separate subgroup of schizophrenia in the ICD-10, called cenesthopathic schizophrenia.[5] [6] Cenesthopathic schizophrenia is included (but not defined) within the category "other schizophrenia" in the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.[7] [8]
Cenesthopathy (originally French: cénestopathie) is a term created in 1907 by the French neuro-psychiatrists Ernest Ferdinand Pierre Louis Dupré and Paul Camus.[9] [10] [11]