it he talks some sense, at least in the original paper from which the
book was written.
He talks about an extremity of two scales with schizophrenia at one end
and hysteria at the other. The schizophrenia end seemed to be about an
inward facing reality. This is hard to describe in words but I hope
people know what it could mean.
I guess it is when the mind withdraws from the external world. In this
sense it can mean many things. It can mean the focus on internal
reality, on consciousness. This may be how people become aware of their
internal dialogue - something which I perceive as an enhanced awareness
whereby people recognise their stream of consciousness and perhaps a
stage after that where they recognise an "i" within that stream of
consciousness.
It may also mean other things with prolonged experience of this
internal-facing state. It may mean less care for external value, events
and rules. It may be combined with prolonged periods of internal
contemplation. It can be withdrawal from the external world.
Herein lies the roots of imagination perhaps. Some may withdraw to an
internal fantasy realm of their own creation. People who daydream may
recognise this state. This internal dreaming may promote creativity as
it becomes a honed skill, like any skill, with practice.
It may mean less interest in standard values, for example of clothing.
One of the tests for schizophrenia is dressing differently. (I kid you
not) Responses to external events may also be different for people who
have withdrawn for prolonged periods.
This internal state can be a place of contemplation. I wonder just how
many monks and priests might get a diagnosis of schizophrenia from a
biological or neurobiological test (obviously they lack the psychosocial
dysfunction part but this is a strange way to caveat the diagnosis if it
were a true illness detectable by biological methods like the rest of
medical illnesses).
It can also be a place of safety to escape external trauma. I can
recognise this from my own life. It is a technique which people who go
through high levels of abuse or unhappiness have to learn. They have to
be able to withdraw to a safe place away from the external pain which
they have no control over.
Many of the pathologies of schizophrenia could be seen from the
perspective of the reactions of someone who has withdrawn into an
internal reality. Waxy movements is another example. I'm sure there are
others if psychiatrists were willing to think about cause rather than
symptom.
This may also be an area where cannabis and schizophrenia inter-relate.
Some people consume cannabis socially. Others consume it on their own.
It can help them withdraw to a more pleasant internal state and make
living in this internal reality more pleasant. It may be used as a
coping mechanism by some for this purpose rather than the
'antipsychotic' (tranquillising) effect of cannabidols. It may be used
by people who prefer a peaceful way of existence...but real life can
trigger the emotions they're trying to repress hence anger can
externalise in negative ways.
If the psychiatric hegemony were willing to consider this slightly
different way of thinking when understanding what treatment might mean
then perhaps there is a future for schizophrenics other than a lifetime
of incarceration or drugging with the chemical cosh. They seem to prefer
easy answers based on observing external behaviour and making
simplistic, short term treatment choices and, frankly, psychologists are
little better.
Perhaps this inward mental state is why thinking differently is
associated with madness and schizophrenia. Perhaps if those that
governed their treatment had any experience of this inward-facing mental
state they may be able to come up with better solutions than what is
currently considered international best practice.
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