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In the Right State
of Mind
By Courtney Adkins
What if a person lost their mind? Would they we be trapped inside of
the mind? Would their reality become something different?
If a person have schizophrenia, most of the time they can’t control
their mind. Schizophrenics are trapped in an alternate reality that is all in
their mind. Thus having no control of the mind, it throws off the balance of
the soul.
Schizophrenia is “a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact
with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of
functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed
as disorder of feeling, thought (delusions), perception (hallucinations), and
behavior” (“Schizophrenia”). Schizophrenia makes people see and hear
things that are not really there. In other words, their reality is not really
theirs anymore. The hallucinations take control, thus in theory someone is
‘trapped’ within their own mind without any control whatsoever. What
most people do not know is that there are different types of Schizophrenia;
five to be exact. “Different subtypes of schizophrenia are defined according
to the most significant and predominant characteristics present in each
person at each point in time. The result is that one person may be
diagnosed with different subtypes over the course of his illness” (Bengston).
The different subtypes of Schizophrenia are: paranoid, disorganized,
catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Cite that info, then end with a
commentary sentence
Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common type of schizophrenia.
Those suffering from paranoid schizophrenia mainly have hallucinations.
“They tend to believe that others are poisoning, harassing, or plotting
against them. They may also hear voices, which order them to do things”
(“Paranoid”). Paranoid schizophrenia is what most people are familiar with;
people seeing and hearing things that are not there. People usually believe
that paranoid schizophrenics are very violent and dangerous, which is
completely not true. People with paranoid schizophrenia usually want to be
left alone. In some cases, people with paranoid schizophrenia can also be
dangerous. “Many patients end up in jail either because of their behavior or
because of a lack of knowledge of psychotic disorders on the part of others”
(Mazcuri). So based on this, paranoid schizophrenics can go either way,
they can either by violent or they want to be left alone.
Disorganized schizophrenia deals with unusual thought processes and
disorganized thoughts. “Some patients with this type of schizophrenia
experience ‘thought blocking’, a condition in which the person stops
abruptly in the middle of a thought’ (“Disorganized”). People with
disorganized schizophrenia tend to stop in the middle of a thought; they say
that it is like someone plucked the thought right out of their head. People
with disorganized schizophrenia also tend to make up unintelligible words
(“Disorganized”). It is almost like disorganized schizophrenics come up
with their very own language.
Catatonic schizophrenia has to do more with movement than
anything else. “People with catatonic schizophrenia can be clumsy and
uncoordinated. They may also show involuntary movements, grimacing, or
unusual mannerisms. They may repeat certain motions over and over or, in
extreme cases, may become catatonic. Catatonia is a state of immobility and
unresponsiveness” (“Catatonic”). Sometimes these schizophrenics can stay
still for a long time.
Differentiated schizophrenia is diagnosed when people have signs of
schizophrenia, but they are not developed enough to put them into any
other specific subtype. “The symptoms of any one person can fluctuate at
different points in time, resulting in uncertainty as to the correct subtype
classification (Bengston). As this states, schizophrenics with differentiated
schizophrenia have many different characteristics that are found in all
different types of schizophrenia.
Residential schizophrenia is usually diagnosed when people don’t
should any obvious symptoms. “Hallucinations, delusions or idiosyncratic
behaviors may still be present, but their manifestations are significantly
diminished in comparison to the acute phase of the illness” (Bengston).
Imagine residential schizophrenia as remission for a cancer patient.
In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna described a condition somewhat
resembling the symptoms of schizophrenia which he called Junun Mufrit
(severe madness), which he distinguished from other forms of madness
such as mania, rabies and manic depressive psychosis (“Schizophrenia”).
“Schizophrenia was identified as a distinct mental disorder by Emil
Krepelinym. He first held the brink, defined psychotic disorder that he then
called dementia prekoks, and manic depression. Krepelin thought that
dementia is primarily a disease of the brain, as a form of dementia that is
different from other forms, such as Alzheimer's disease, occur more
commonly in old age” (“Schizophrenia”). Schizophrenia is a disease of the
mind.
According to the philosopher Plato, the soul is split up into 3 parts;
Logos (mind/intellect), Thymos (emotion), and Eros (desire). This states
that the mind is part of the soul. Personality is defined by the harmony of
Logos, Thymos, and Eros (Foley).
“The soul is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially
alive” (Aristotle). According to Avicenna, perception is reality and
perception is of the soul. (Foley) Theoretically, when a person has
schizophrenia their mind is not their own.
When a disease of the mind is put into play, the Logos, Thymos, and
Eros harmony is thrown off-balance. When the harmony is thrown off, the
personality is also thrown off. Since the mind is in part of the soul, the
whole soul is thrown off. If perception is reality, then that means that you
have lack of perception or that your perception is therefore trapped within
your own mind thus throwing off the entire make-up of the soul.
In conclusion, everything connects together. If a person loses control
of the mind, the soul is thrown off balance. Schizophrenia is one key to
madness. A person is trapped in their own mind because they have no
control of their reality, thus they must sit back and watch the disease take
over their own reality. Since the mind is part of the whole, if the mind is
corrupt then the harmony is thrown off, in turn throwing the soul off. It is
possible to be trapped in the mind, because perception is reality and reality
isn’t controlled by that person anymore.
Bengston, Michael. "Types of Schizophrenia." Psych Central. N.p., Sept.
2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
"Schizophrenia." 1. Merriam-Webster. 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Schoenstadt, Arthur. "Types of Schizophrenia." eMedTV. HONcode, 12
Sept. 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Mazcuri, Riaz. "Schizophrenia: A Doctor's View." Orlando Sentenial. N.p.,
8 June 1995. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Cohen, S. Marc. "Aristotle on the Soul." Washington EDU. N.p., 10 Dec.
2004. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
"Schizophrenia." Femono. N.p., 2001. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
"Schizophrenia." News-Medica. 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.
Foley, Nate. "Soul." Triton Cental. Fairland, IN. 10 Jan. 2012. Lecture.