Introspection and schizophrenia: a comparative investigation of anomalous self experiences.
Louis Sass, Elizabeth Pienkos, Barnaby Nelson
Consciousness and cognition September 1, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.05.004 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractComparing anomalous self-experiences common in schizophrenia with those of normal individuals in an intensely introspective orientation reveals significant similarities but also important differences. Affinities include feelings of passivity, fading of self or world, and alienation from thoughts, feelings, or the lived-body. Differences involve confusion between self and world and severe dislocation or erosion of first-person perspective, qualities unique to schizophrenia. The comparison places putatively schizophrenic self-disorders in a broader context, evaluates hypotheses about core processes in schizophrenia, and orients investigation of pathogenetic pathways and psychotherapeutic interventions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Comparative investigation Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Anomalous self-experience Depersonalization Hyperreflexivity Introspectionism Ipseity |
| Citations | 42 |
| Key finding | Anomalous self-experiences in schizophrenia share similarities with those in normal intense introspection, but confusion between self and world and severe erosion of first-person perspective are unique to schizophrenia. |
Abstract
This paper offers a comparative investigation of anomalous self-experiences common in schizophrenia (defined in Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (EASE) instrument) and those of normal individuals in an intensely introspective orientation (early 20th-century "introspectionist" psychology). The latter represent a relatively pure manifestation of certain forms of exaggerated self-consciousness ("hyperreflexivity"), one facet of the disturbance of core- or minimal-self ("ipseity" disturbance) postulated as central in schizophrenia. Significant similarities with schizophrenia-like experience were found but important differences also emerged. Affinities included feelings of passivity, fading of self or world, and alienation from thoughts, feelings, or lived-body. Differences involved confusion between self and world and severe dislocation or erosion of first-person perspective, qualities unique to schizophrenia. The purpose is threefold: 1, place the putatively schizophrenic experiences of self-disorder in a broader, comparative context; 2, evaluate hypotheses concerning core processes in schizophrenia; 3, orient investigation of possible pathogenetic pathways as well as psychotherapeutic interventions.