Curing
Schizophrenia
Views of Schizophrenia
A simple internet
search for the word reveals a profusion of definitions with similar
typecasting; e.g. Schizophrenia is “a chronic, severe, and disabling brain
disorder...” (NIMHa, 2007), or “a severe, lifelong brain disorder,” (Medline,
2007), or a “disease.”
The reader may
perceive something approaching a unanimity of opinion on the idea; i.e., that
since this “disease” involves the brain and these authorities have deemed it to
be “lifelong,” it must ipso facto be
something strictly biological. A host of
inferences follow: “it’s all in the genes,” “you’re born with it,” “there’s
something wrong with their brains,” “the poor parents,” “medicine can cure
them, if only we can find the right medicine,” “there’s no hope,” etc...,
etc...
This writer thinks
most of these views are about as useful as earlier ideas that people with
schizophrenic symptoms were guilty of witchcraft. At least the same National Institute of
Mental Health Report listed above candidly admitted:
“…schizophrenia is believed to result from a
combination of environmental and genetic factors. All the tools of modern
science are being used to search for the causes of this disorder.” NIMHb, 2007.
Nature or Nurture?
In fact, medical
science has been looking for a biological cause for schizophrenia for close to
a century and has yet to find one. Over
that time, many announcements of such “findings” have been made – always accompanied
by the greatest publicity, but none were proved to be verifiable.
Another curious
fact of this “disease” is that people who have it sometimes spontaneously
recover. How then is it a disease? Or a
brain disorder? Or lifelong? It is a rare disease indeed where people spontaneously
recover and where there is no known physical etiology.
What about the
“environmental” factors mentioned; i.e., the family backgrounds of the people
who develop schizophrenic symptoms?
Peter Breggin, M.D.
(p. 103, et seq.; see generally,
1994) speaks of one of the seminal reports on schizophrenia in the history of
psychiatry, the study of the Genain Quadruplets (all of whom had schizophrenic
symptoms). He notes that the report of
the study recites the potential “biological” evidence for schizophrenia in that
case in almost inexhaustible detail – but somehow neglects to consider it
noteworthy that the family life of the quadruplets included such horrors as
having acid poured on their genitals.
John Modrow, did
not suffer the same horrors as the Genain Quadruplets; but did endure a
significant amount of craziness from his parents, which he describes throughout
his outstanding book “How to Become a Schizophrenic.”
Modrow notes that:
“The claim that most schizophrenics come from
perfectly normal families deserves careful consideration… (regarding a case
study he presented earlier)… Although the parents in this family appeared to be
very ordinary and sensible people, they were later found to be playing with
their daughter’s mind, subjecting her to strange ‘telepathy experiments’… it took over a year of investigation to
discover those parents’ bizarre behavior.”
1995, pp. 205-206,
emphasis original.
In spite of the
extreme craziness of his own parents, Modrow still thinks of them as “basically
decent and relatively normal” (1995, pp. 206); but also says:
“Had a psychiatrist examined my parents… he
would have found… nothing strange or odd… Moreover, had that psychiatrist known
my parents intimately for several years he probably would have retained his
favorable opinion of them… However… there is no doubt in my mind that their
behavior towards me was the major cause of my schizophrenic breakdown.”
Modern Psychoanalysis of the Schizophrenic Patient
It is no accident
that the decisive text in modern psychoanalysis is entitled “Modern
Psychoanalysis of the Schizophrenic Patient.” (Spotnitz, 1985). Though the
theory and techniques in that book are equally applicable to all sorts of
mental difficulties, Dr. Spotnitz arrived at those results through his
groundbreaking work with schizophrenic patients.
Spotnitz (1985, p. 17) proceeded from the premise that
“Regardless of etiology… there is no evidence that the condition is not completely
reversible.”
“The
operational concept follows: Schizophrenia is an organized mental
situation, an intricately structured but psychologically unsuccessful defense
against destructive behavior. Both aggressive and libidinal impulses figure in
this organized situation… Obliteration of the object field of the mind and
fragmentation of the ego are among the secondary consequences of the defense.”
Spotnitz, 1985, p. 57, emphasis original.
As to the “environmental” variables, Spotnitz says:
“It
is unnecessary to postulate that a particular type of relationship produced the
infantile pattern. It may be in part innate and in part learned. Even in cases
where it was taught by the mother, her attitude may not have been pathological;
there may simply have been a disequilibrium between her emotional training and
the infant’s impulsivity. The dynamics of the mother-child relationship are not
uniform in these cases. More significant than whether the parent actually
loved, hated, or was indifferent to her infant is the fact that the totality of his environment failed to meet
his specific maturational needs…”
1985, p. 68, emphasis original.
In this writer’s opinion, the techniques set forth in “Modern Psychoanalysis of the
Schizophrenic Patient” work equally well with other mental difficulties because
mental conditions have much in common – they are all part of the human
condition.
One could even say that mental difficulties are
normal; part of being human - the only question being whether we still function
well in spite of our difficulties, or whether those difficulties have reached
intolerable proportions, such as with the schizophrenic condition.
The Talking Cure
Many people will use Herculean efforts to appear
normal, to distinguish themselves from those with problems, to split themselves
off from the idea that they themselves might have any mental difficulties at
all.
In spite of the efforts and protestations of these ordinary
people, however, skilled observers may have little difficulty seeing the
underlying troubles. And, if the troubles reach a stage where they seriously
interfere with the individual’s ability to love, work, or play it may be time
to seek help.
When we speak of the physical illnesses we tend to
think of cure as involving the complete eradication of anything relating to the
condition, Not so with mental conditions – in those cases, the cure consists of
placing the individual in a position where he or she can love, work and play
without serious hindrance – where they can be productive and enjoy life.
The particular weakness of the individual is not
likely to be completely eradicated. If a person tends to display in a phobic,
or an obsessive-compulsive, or a schizophrenic, or any other way, they could
have some resort to their characteristic mechanisms even after being cured.
After all, we do not cure people from being human; nor do we seek to.
But, the person who has been competently treated by a
modern psychoanalyst will be able to enjoy the whole range of human feelings
and action available to the best of us.
References
Breggin, P. (1994).
Toxic Psychiatry,
Medline. (May 24,
2007). Service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National
Institutes of Health, online at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/schizophrenia.html
Modrow, J. (1995).
How to Become a Schizophrenic,
NIMHa, (March 1,
2007). “Schizophrenia,” National
NIMHb, (Jan. 24,
2007). “What Causes Schizophrenia?” National
Spotnitz, H. (1985). Modern
Psychoanalysis of the Schizophrenic Patient: Theory of the Technique, Second
Edition,
© 2007, James G. Fennessy, M.A., J.D.
E-mail: njanalyst@hotmail.com
http://modernpsychoanalysis.org
Psychoanalysis