ABSTRACT
In his short book The Divided Self R. D. Laing puts forward a view of the self, which is integrated into its environment. From the clinical psychiatric point of view Laing describes the structures of the self in a way that explains the kinds of things that his patients say to him. Laing analyses schizophrenia using a twofold structure of true and false self. Laing's believes that the schizophrenic is afraid that their individuality is threatened and will be destroyed by others. In "The Case of Peter" Laing describes the case of a young man, Peter, who seeks his help because of an apparent delusion that he carries with him a constant smell, offensive to himself and to others. Laing's investigation of this case reveals the fact that, as a child, Peter was emotionally ignored by his parents, and consequently developed feelings of guilt about his "being there".
