Idomus straipsnis.
2. Knowledge of the Disorder
In this, the Decade of the Brain, evidence continues to mount that viewed from an objective, or, scientific perspective, schizophrenia is a brain-based disorder. It can be best conceptualized as an imbalance in the biochemistry of the brain's neurotransmitting systems (Gershon & Rieder, 1992; Wong et. al., 1986). Studies are published with great frequency now, further establishing the neurophysiological correlates and consequences of serious mental illness. As articulated by one prominent psychiatrist, "Patients have to be taught to accept the fact that they are ill, that this is not a mystical experience but a disease - an illness that needs treatment." (Cancro, 1992).
From the viewpoint of the person with the disorder, however, the phenomenon can be very much like a mystical experience. The young psychiatrist, Carol North (1987), describes herself as being in a parallel reality or at a cosmic juncture. I (Frese, 1993a) have referred to one of my breakdowns as "cruising the cosmos." David Zelt (1981) describes himself as being "constantly in touch with the infinite and the eternal."
The nature of the disorder is that it affects the brain's thought and belief systems, it affects a person's confidence in what is truthful. Therefore, to the person who is experiencing the disorder it very much can be a mystical journey where poetic relationships and metaphorical associations dictate truth. To the person who is experiencing the disorder, these subjective experiences are very real indeed.
Therefore, while one should try to understand as much as possible about how the disorder is accompanied by biochemical irregularities, one should also understand that for the person who has the schizophrenia, it indeed can be a mystical or even a religious experience.
Often these mystical experiences can be most seductive. One has the feeling that he is having special insights and even special powers. One is no longer restricted by the rigid control of rationality. One begins engaging in what experts have called paleologic (Arieti & Brody, 1974) or parataxic thinking (Sullivan, 1953). Many consumer/survivors prefer the term, "poetic" logic.
Aš vis svarstau, kodel sizofrenija taip dažnai yra susijusi su Dievu.
