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The idea that the world is coming to an end, or has already done so, is one which is frequently met in schizophrenics, particularly in the early stages of the illness. This idea may take the form of a fixed delusion or of an anxious obsession. In its details this idea varies tremendously. Earthquakes, floods, wars, revolutions or pestilences may be held responsible, or specific descriptive details may be entirely lacking. At times the destruction is represented by lesser catastrophies in which nations, or merely cities, are destroyed. These ideas have in common that large masses of people are wiped out, usually the whole human race. Often variations of this idea occur in the same patient.
The theoretical importance of this idea for an understanding of schizophrenia was first pointed out by Freud in his well-known discussion of the Schreber case.1 He showed that Schreber's delusion that the world had been destroyed was the projection of an inner catastrophe, the withdrawal of the patient's interest or libido from the real world; that for the patient the real world was destroyed since it no longer had any meaning for him. The discussion by Freud affords a deep insight into the rôle which this fantasy plays in psychosis. The patient expresses the withdrawal of his libido from the world of objects by a feeling that his world of objects has come to an end.
The aim of the present paper is to inquire into the rôle of this fantasy in the psychic lives of patients. In what situations does it arise? What instinctual wishes does it gratify? How