ABSTRACT
This mental disorder is perhaps one of the most misunderstood in the arguments about cause and origins. Typical of the late nineteenth-century scientist categorising new phenomena, the term schizophrenia is derived from the ancient Greek: ‘schizo’ literally means split or fractured, and ‘phrenia’, pertaining to the mind. Sometimes, this has popularly been described as ‘split personality’, which the syndrome is not, and some mix it up with the so-called ‘multiple personality’, which probably does not exist without the external shaping of unconscious ‘collusion’ of the therapist, and the receipt of an attention-giving media (Stubner et al. 1998; Rieber 1999). The ICD describes schizophrenia as ‘characteristic distortions of thinking and perception’, and it is best considered as a disorder of thought patterns. While normal cognition is usually maintained, because of the accompanying hallucinations, which can affect any of the senses, and delusions that seem to ‘explain’ to the person what is happening to them, the person is invariably disturbed and disturbing. This reaction can itself create a response in those around the person, often adding to the interactive complexity and confusion.
