<<I interviewed the head of the Harvard Brain Bank, who has specialized in schizophrenia, and she said they all, down to the last one, said they felt they had NO real self. Not that the illness felt like part of self. There was a gaping hole at the center I guess.>>
Well, by the time the Harvard Brain Bank gets them, that would be an understatement.
But more seriously, while this is somewhat off-topic: there used to be a school of thought in personality theory that a schizophrenic could not also have a personality disorder--because they did not have a personality (similar to the premise of having no real self). I have never bought into that idea. However, there is--and this was the point I was making--a diffuse boundary at best between what is personality and what is disease symptomatology. Which accounts for some of that ambivalence, some patients with schizophrenia feel like they lose their 'selves' on medication (which is a very frequent occurrence with bipolar patients, and a major cause of treatment noncompliance). Not all schizophrenics think of themselves as having a "malady", and not all of them feel empty.
My reference to being 'egocentric' simply referred to their frame of perception, the degree to which they tend to perceive and operate as if events do revolve around them-not necessarily reflecting grandiosity, they don't have the luxury--or wiring--to step back and look at situations objectively.
We agree, life did stack the cards for them, you were just more compassionate in your wording.
Harry
NeuroInvestment |
