Phenomenology of anomalous self-experience in early schizophrenia

Embodiment and Affectivity in Moebius Syndrome and Schizophrenia: A Phenomenological Analysis

“…Such experiences are quite common in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, though their specifi c quality and articulation may vary-for example, 'the body feels awkward as if it does not really fi t. It feels like the body is not really me, as if it is rather a machine controlled by my brain', 43 or 'I feel strange, I am no longer in my body, it is someone else; I sense my body but it is far away, some other place.' 44 In schizophrenia, diminished embodiment may take on an alien or quasi-mechanical character: 'I'm blessed with a bladder-emptier that I can turn on and off , and an anal expeller', 45 or 'I'm a psycho-machine'. 46 For Peter, 18 years old, his initial, non-psychotic experiences of psycho-physical split, somatic depersonalization, and loss of control of bodily movements evolved into vague ideas about external infl uence ('it sometimes feels as if someone else is performing my actions.…”

“…I feel detached or airy as if I am not present' 51 ; 'My consciousness is not as whole as it should be'; 'I am half-awake.' 52 Furthermore, many patients with incipient schizophrenia describe a variety of interdependent cognitive disturbances. Some of these are worth highlighting here because they indicate important diff erences between schizophrenia and MS, which should not to be overlooked.…”

Consideraciones críticas sobre la propuesta de Thomas Szasz. Entre filosofía de la mente, fenomenología y psiquiatría

“…Sin ni siquiera descartar la participación activa de explicaciones orgánicas. Tal como señalan Parnas & Handest (2003): 'A faithful [phenomenological] description of experience is the first step in any taxonomic project or in any effort to correlate pathological experience to its biological substrate' (p. 131).…”

“…Tal como lo mencionábamos antes, la descripción fenomenológica detallada de las experiencias psicopatológicas en tanto dadas en la conciencia de los pacientes constituye un marco metodológico unificador inicial para la investigación psiquiatrica (Parnas & Handest, 2003). Tal como señala Nagel (1947), cualquier intento por explicar cualquier entidad requiere que tal entidad sea coherente y propiamente entendida.…”

Changing relationship with voices: new therapeutic perspectives for treating hallucinations

“…Numerous studies have shown that diffi culties in interpersonal relations during childhood and adolescence are the strongest predictors of schizophrenia. More specifi cally, research reveals the important role of the formation of the self, including the dialectical process between one's own bare individuality and the mores and institutions of the society to which one belongs, and the fragility of the forms of awareness involved, with their unstable wavering of implicit-pre-refl exive into explicit-refl exive modalities (Parnas & Handest, 2003;Stanghellini, 2004b).…”