4 Schizophrenias
It is estimated that schizophrenia, commonly called "split personality," accounts for over one-half of the psychotic population. There are four main types.
Simple Schizophrenia
This type is characterized by-disturbances of thinking and attention. Human relationships are impaired. The individual insulates himself or herself from the realities of life, apparently trying to solve problems by giving up. This disorder frequently begins in adolescence and progresses gradually. Rarely do such persons find their way into hospitals: They may live out their lives as drifters and often as prostitutes. The simple schizophrenic has a low level of feelings about both self and otbers. This person has few, if any, hopes and aspirations. He or she builds a life around undemanding routines requiring little contact with other people.
Hebephrenic Schizophrenia
This type is characterized by delusions related to some part of the body, such as "softening of the brain." Often there are delusions of grandeur. Such persons also show unpredictable behaviors such as giggling and silliness. Most of them deteriorate rapidly, in contrast to the simple schizophrenic, to earlier forms of behavior, reaching a point of lack of control over urination and defecation?
Paranoid Schizophrenia
Here the disorder is characterized by delusions of persecution: "They are out to get me." The individual apparently tries to hold himself or herself tpgether by blaming difficulties on others. Such patients often complain that other people control their thoughts by radio or some other means. The delusions of the paranoid schizophrenic are changeable and transitory, and differ somewhat from those of the true paranoiac which we shall describe below.
Catatonic Schizophrenia
This disorder is characterized by a waxy flexibility. If one raises the arms of a catatonic to an upright position, the patient may keep them there for an hour or more. The normal person finds this virtually impossible to do. Try it!
Part of the clinical picture is a shift from stupor to extreme excitability, a condition in which the patient may be dangerous. While in stupor, the catatonic will do the opposite of what is requested. An offer to shake hands may lead the patient to put his hand quickly behind his or her back.
It is the interpersonal side of the schizophrenic's thinking that is especially confused; this person cannot anticipate what to do next. However, thought-disordered schizophrenics have been found to be only slightly less stable than normal people in the way they interpret objects, but much more unstable and inconsistent in the way they interpret people.
The visual hallucinations in schizophrenics have been likened to the projection of motion pictures' on the wall-that is, striking intensification of color and light. Such experiences, however, are more rare than auditory (sound) hallucinations. One theory is that the biological system underlying visual memory storage is less susceptible to derangement than the system underlying auditory memory and images. Auditory stimulation, even though more frequent, is far shorter and less intense than that of the visual world. Schizophrenics react much more slowly than do normal people, and they are quite handicapped in making decisions.
