ABSTRACT
Dreikurs ( 1967) made a distinction that has proved quite useful. He noted the difference between psychosis, neurosis, and character disorders as the relationship of common sense to private logic. In the psychotic disorders (including the organic conditions), common sense is discarded . Private logic prevails, and individuals act as if their private logic were "fact" rather than "fiction." Regardless of the etiology, psychotic individuals operate upon premises that are not grounded in common sense. Whether a condition is primarily psychological or biological is not as relevant for Adlerians as is the individuals' stance about their conditions. People must learn to adapt to survive, and as Adler frequently noted, survival is greatly facilitated when it is done cooperatively, with the support and mutual assistance of others.
