Carl Friedrich Flemming (27 December 1799 – 27 January 1880) was a German

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

born in

Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Slavic settlement of ' ...

. He was the father of cellular biologist

Walther Flemming Walther Flemming (21 April 1843 – 4 August 1905) was a German biologist and a founder of cytogenetics. He was born in Sachsenberg (now part of Schwerin) as the fifth child and only son of the psychiatrist Carl Friedrich Flemming (1799–1880) ...

(1843-1905). After receiving his medical doctorate from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, he worked as an assistant at the ''Irrenheilanstalt Sonnenschein'' (Sonnenschein mental asylum) near

Pirna Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...

. From 1830 to 1854 he was director of the new psychiatric hospital at Sachsenberg, and afterwards maintained a private practice in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

. In 1844 he introduced the term ''

dysthymia Dysthymia ( ), also known as persistent depressive disorder (PDD), is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically a disorder primarily of mood, consisting of similar cognitive and physical problems as major depressive disorder, but with lon ...

mutabilis'' to describe a disorder that is an alternation of ''dysthymia atra'' (black depression) and ''dysthymia candida'' (low-level mania). He was part of the

somatic school Somatic school may refer to those in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who argued for a biological (as opposed to psychological) etiology of insanity; or it may refer to a group of nineteenth-century German psychiatrists, including Carl ...

who held that insanity is a symptom of biological diseases located outside the brain, particularly diseases of the abdominal and thoracic viscera, akin to the delirium caused by many acute biological illnesses. Schwerin Flemming-Denkmal 2008-06-17

Flemming died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Written works

* ''De noctis circa morbos efficacia, etc''; (Berolini, Typis Ioannis Friderici Starckii 1821). * ''Die Menschenseele'', 1830 - The human soul. * ''Die Thierseele'', 1830 - The animal soul. * ''Die Irren-Heilanstalt Sachsenberg bei Schwerin im Großherzogthum Mecklenburg: Nachrichten über ihre Entstehung, Einrichtung, Verwaltung und bisherige Wirksamkeit'', 1833. * ''Pathologie und Therapie der Psychosen. Nebst Anhang: Über das gerichtsärztliche Verfahren bei Erforschung krankhafter Seelenzustände'', 1859 - Pathology and treatment of

psychosis Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

, with appendix, etc. * ''Ueber Geistesstörungen und Geisteskranke'', 1872 - On mental disorders and the mentally ill * ''Zur Klärung des Begriffs der unbewussten Seelen-Thätigkeit'', 1877 - Clarification on the concept of unconscious mental activity.

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

.'' 1799 births 1880 deaths People from Jüterbog German psychiatrists {{Germany-psychiatrist-stub