ABSTRACT
This chapter presents four case studies to explain what is schizophrenia. Diagnosis of schizophrenia in these cases depends upon reports of positive symptoms present in earlier stages of the illness. Depending upon the definition of schizophrenia applied, between 30 and 50" of cases progress to this chronic deteriorated state within two to five years after first admission. Acute episodes with bizarre symptoms can still occur in these chronic deteriorated cases. Schizophrenia is one of the psychoses, those severe mental illnesses in which the sufferer is no longer fully in touch with reality. The chapter examines the major signs and symptoms associated with schizophrenia in cognitive terms. The approach taken in this book follows that of cognitive neuropsychology. Cognitive psychology is essentially synonymous with what used to be called information processing psychology. Cognitive processes are the hypothetical computational processes that underlie all our behaviour and mental experience. Most of these processes occur outside our conscious awareness.
