When I was in uni I was reading a lot of postmodernism, Foucault mainly.
One thing Foucault said was schizophrenia was going to be the direction of things in the future.
In postmodern discourse schizo is about being against totalizing identities, predictability and control etc.
So I was wondering if there is a personality structure that could be called schizo, like the ego or superego and id, and just like how in Freudian psych they push and pull on eachother, the schizo is a dimension that has a little egoism, but unstable for the ego, the superego cannot influence, and the id can influence or be suppressed by.
Will and are people becoming more schizo in this way, or is schizophrenia just a syndrome with no relation to personality or identity structures or sociological structures and patterns?
Is sz…
a personality structure or dimension in relation to self, codes, desires
a syndrome that needs meds
a possible direction society takes against identity politics
Yep, that is the current medical understanding of schizo-
Postmodernism is a little funny in that it is philosophy so its more about abstract essences than about diagnostic criteria.
Philosophy I guess takes the basic thing schizo- does in a set of symptoms and the problem modern psychiatry has with it and turns it into a general essence which then forms a kind of way of being outside of medical diagnosis.
Yeah, schizophrenia is a thought disorder. I think the confusion is that schizoid and schizotypal sound similar to schizophrenia, but schizoid and schizotypal are personality disorders.
I think @Schizbro is looking at symptoms through a philosophical lens.
This kind of stuff is waaay over my head, but maybe I can still try to chime in a little bit:
It’s interesting to think about SZ in a philosophical sense, and how it relates to our society and ourselves. I don’t know enough about philosophy or its schools of thought to confidently say “hey, SZ fits in here, or is a reflection of XYZ or whatever.”
But one thing is for sure, it takes more than just the medical model to get a sense of the impact SZ has on the people who experience it, as well as those around them. SZ is much more than a brain condition— it affects the way in which we perceive the world around us, and can dictate our thoughts and behavior, causing micro to macro ripple effects and chain-reactions.
SZ merits analysis outside of the medical context alone— it is a facet of the human condition for a number of us. And perhaps with a paradigm shift in how we view it and conceptualize it, we can better help the people who live on the psychosis spectrum.
i dont think sz voices are internal construct of the mind. I think theyre external forms in energy that influence us, but i still believe meds are the way because they help use remain calm despite those things and become less obsessed with them to the point that we can actually forget about them entirely. That being said those voices are nothing to fear. As they say, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself right… Its the fear and anxiety these voices create thats the real danger to the psyche… and in effect the psyche has its influence on the physical brain which is why we then see physical changes in the brains of schizophrenics. So there is an effect on the personality and physical person, but i dont think it originates from the person per se, although there may be certain personality types that are particularly susceptible to these voices… for example people who are melancholic or spend a lot of time alone. I think its important to remember that although sz’s are relatively rare, everyone is capable of hearing voices. Its backed by science as well, as shown in sleep deprivation studies where people invariably begin hearing voices; also that a larger percent of the population has heard a voice at least once in their life (again a scientific fact).
We should study neurotransmitters and genetics, but we should also study many other things.
John Nash, Jr. got better when he reunited with his wife. Elyn Saks credits meeting and falling in love with her husband as just as important, if not more important, than medication in her journey to recovery.
Yes, focus on medication, but also put just as much focus on therapy dogs, art, music, love, and friendship.
I only have the gist of the area of thinking. Your way of thinking about it is personally relevant and practical, but this postmodern stuff is about western history since the Enlightenment and how psychiatry was part of society becoming scientific and how society became controlled and ordered. Even about how sz inspired science. Not really something people really need to think about on a personal and practical level.
Just the same - I raise the question because, as you acknowledge, there is a deeper understanding possible beyond the medical model. If in fact schizo is pomo and pomo is adverse to psychiatry and psychosis spectrum disorder is schixo stuff happening in pomo social trends… that is atleast interesting.
The question about sz personality is sort not explained properly, but I was wondering just in general about the sense people have about there being a personality. My thought process is a little convoluted but basically sz personality would be like being egoistic in overturning morality, but instead not fixed in totalizing modern realities like identity, but that can also be things like ways of thought, or living.
Ok, I see your position on personality. I think being alone or depressed/ melancholic/ blue is formative of personality… but I agree there is no personality that causes symptoms like voices… the disease symptoms. Nobody knows, there is no answer. I was just wondering if there was a perception there was psych structure that was schizo that wasnt the disease itself - its just based on the idea of ego being in relation to changing moralities that there is a schizo personality element that defies realities.
oh ok true man, yea was just giving my 2 cents. I dont personally think its a personality problem… I mean maybe its sufficience to cause psychosis but not neccisary. like if you seeking such kind of delusional thoughts, i do believe you can lean into the psychosis a bit more, yea. But there are also certainly people, and id say most people for that matter who try their best of avoid delusional thoughts. To put it simply, yes being an obstinate person who purposely and willfully denies reality for whatever reason can contribute to the degree of psychosis they have. Thats why doctors say its not healthy to entertain your voices etc. That being said, i do think most people are trying to avoid and fight against their voices as much as possible.
This obstinate person is closer to the sz personality that would characterize the symptomatic / disordered schizo that the forum kind of shelters us from because they are not allowed here really. But Im glad you hit the nail on the head with that characterization. There are probably personsality / behaviour elements common to everyone here, but really this is a regulated text based interaction thing so everyone here despite being sz has to be kinda cool with accepting reality, even though in other ways may not.
