Cenesthopathy (from French: cénestopathie,[1] formed from the Ancient Greek κοινός (koinós) "common", αἴσθησῐς (aísthēsis) "feeling", "perception" + πᾰ́θος (páthos) "feeling, suffering, condition"), also known as coenesthesiopathy,[2] 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.[3] 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).[4]
Type [2][5] | Etymology | Clinical description |
Coenesthesiopathy (cenesthopathy) | "Coenesthesia" (κοινός + [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 (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 (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 (pará, "beside, by, contrary to") + coenesthesiopathy) | A qualitative alteration in the sense of bodily being, caused by abnormal, bizarre sensations in the body. |
Acoenesthesiopathy[note 1] (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.[2][6] Cenesthopathic schizophrenia is included (but not defined) within the category "other schizophrenia" (F20.8) 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.[1][9][10]