It is challenging to identify the first modern individual diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia as the formal diagnosis and understanding of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, evolved over time. However, one of the earliest known cases of paranoid schizophrenia documented in medical literature is that of James Tilly Matthews.
James Tilly Matthews was an Englishman who lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was admitted to Bethlem Royal Hospital (then known as Bedlam) in London in 1797. He believed that he was being controlled by a machine called the "Air Loom" operated by a group of spies, influencing his thoughts and actions. Matthews' symptoms align with what we now recognize as paranoid schizophrenia, though the diagnosis itself was not established until the 20th century.
It's important to note that historical records are limited, and there might have been cases of paranoid schizophrenia or similar conditions in earlier times that were not documented or understood in the same way. The formal classification and diagnosis of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, started to take shape with the development of modern psychiatry and the publication of diagnostic manuals, such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), in the 20th century.