Modelling disruptions of intentionality in psychosis.
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki October 12, 2023 Orestis Giotakos 1 citation
Intentionality—the directedness or aboutness of mental states—is central to philosophy of mind. The brain's seeking system, reward circuits, and homeostatic systems may together form a broad intentional system whose behavior is nonlinear and chaotic. The cusp catastrophe model, previously used for health behaviors, explains how small changes in proximal risk can trigger sudden severe psychopathology when distal risk is high, and how hysteresis keeps neural networks active after triggering events fade. In psychosis, intentionality fails through nonlinear, multifactor fluctuations: intentional objects may be inappropriate or absent. Relapse may result from a fragile intentional system rather than a new stressor. Understanding these disruptions can improve management by focusing on resilience and breaking hysteresis cycles.