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In psychiatry, catastrophic schizophrenia or schizocaria is an obsolete term for a rare and acute form of schizophrenia leading directly to a severe and unremitting chronic psychosis and deterioration of the personality. Catastrophic schizophrenia was thought to be the most severe subtype of schizophrenia, as it had "an acute onset and rapid decline into a chronic state without remission". Catastrophic schizophrenia was also referred to as schizocaria, which was defined by Gerhard Mauz as a psychosis that caused the absolute destruction of the core of one's being.The term "catastrophic schizophrenia" has fallen out of use due to a number of reasons, including advances in psychiatric treatment, which led to a significant decline in patients that fit the diagnosis as their symptoms did not reach the severity of catastrophic schizophrenia, along with modern refinement of the definition and subtypes of schizophrenia. This term has not been included in any version of the DSM. In modern terms, catastrophic schizophrenia would likely be defined as 'acute-onset chronic schizophrenia with poor prognosis'.