iridescentblack
Bluelighter
This post may possibly be triggering for those with schizophrenia. Keep in mind, I am not at all suggesting in this post that people with schizophrenia are what I or experts consider insane. I have marked the proper syntax in bold further down for when I deviate from schizophrenia to insanity to make it easier. The following section after that is italic and bold where I attempt to compare insanity to schizophrenia without making them mutually inclusive.
Solipsism: from the Latin solus and ipse, which respectively mean alone and self. Literal definition: Alone Self. However, this definition can be rather expansive. Let me attempt to elaborate...
Psychiatry has many labels and none are stranger than those that have to do with solipsism. Taken literally, the term is [literally] what it implies. The self as alone. Many have a hard time understanding what this means and if you don't understand, chances are you've never experienced it before. But those who have are at somewhat of a loss or disadvantage, because many psychiatric labels have a lot to do with this one word. Let me tell you why. Or first, some examples.
Paranoid Schizophrenics have in common a delusion they suffer - albeit since everyone is unique - at varying levels and degrees. Paranoid in the context of schizophrenia usually means that someone has suffered a psychotic episode so severe that a sense of terror has overwhelmed them to the point of constant fear. Subjectively, there are two ways we can examine this. One is to look at the magnitude to what level of paranoia the patient is facing. Another way is often not considered by doctors and has more to do with solipsism. In the case of solipsism, the psychotic case was so severe and impacting that the patient quite seriously believes him/herself to be the only one in existence (who is not part of something that everyone else seems to be in on). The former way of looking at this seems to be just a way of simply ignoring that solipsism may be the underlying or root cause of the condition.
When taking a patient in under these conditions, keep in mind that the patient has experienced something that is not only unique to them but is a rare form of experience too. Put the two together and the result could be a person who has suffered a psychotic episode that resulted in them hearing terrifying voices and receiving terrifying thought forms that not only make them paranoid but lead them to believing their family, friends, and even their lover or they themselves are in on something that could lead to their entire world being destroyed.
Some of us have heard the phrase "schizophrenics believe the universe is for them". Here we can examine another way of looking at solipsism.
I understand there to be two types of solipsism which I will, here, call positive solipsism and negative solipsism. Positive solipsism is the result of trauma and can usually be overcome. Negative solipsism, however, is one of the most dangerous forms of delusion that can lead to insanity. Hopefully this thread will help anyone interested in the psychology of insanity to understand why that is. While positive solipsism can sometimes result in the person suffering the paranoia to commit suicide (which is understandable when you understand the condition), negative solipsism is usually harder to detect because it's easier to hide. Given that our societies seem to favor those who favor ego as their method of doing things like getting a career, meeting people, socializing, and being successful, identifying an insane person before they become insane is extremely difficult. If, however, a doctor is familiar with the traits of insane people, said doctor can easily distinguish these people it's said.
Incase you haven't figured it out yet, the two types of solipsism I've laid down here are as follows. One believes himself to be the ruler of the world despite not having the marks to be so. The other believes himself to be so low that he has somehow wound up in a reality where everything is out to get him.
There is also a neutral type of solipsism that I won't get into just yet. I kind of want to see how this thread does. But perhaps this next bit will attempt to explain what that neutral position on a spectrum might entail.
The two main forms of solipsism are so markedly different that I would have to say are most likely best considered as mutually exclusives, despite how eerie and odd that may sound. On one end of the spectrum you have a person who believes he's god and another on the other who believes he's the devil. These definitions never seem to paint a very accurate portrayal of how people under the mark of scrutiny and stigma feel when they receive a label like schizophrenia and nothing seems to explain these conditions to them in ways they can understand. Well... I understand that. And I also can attempt to explain why that is.
Regardless of being a left brain or right brain thinker, many schizophrenics are incredibly artistic. Keep that in mind for now. The left brain has mostly to do with math, science, philosophy, logical thinking, rationalizing, semantics and such... while the right brain seems to have more to do with the arts, music, creativity, and so on. What happens in the event of a psychotic episode severe enough to cause the onset of schizophrenia is actually far less complex than anyone might think, but I've so far not been able to prove it. The following will therefore be best thought of as a theory or example and in the form of my personal experience:
When my psychotic episode that later led to schizophrenia occurred, I was smoking a strain of marijuana called white widow when I all of sudden heard crows laughing at me, voices telling me I was doomed, government on a nearby laptop sending thought forms that I was to be raped in a manner so horrifying the likes of which no one -including the ones who died in the Golden Bull- have ever experienced. The thought form came on so suddenly at the same time of the onset of the psychosis that I have to believe that these things are somehow tied. My mind just as quickly and apparently created a number of hindering and heinous connections in the form of neurons within my left brain hemisphere that this delusion of how I was going to die quickly became quite literally the only thing on my mind. In fact, the burst and bind of neurons and synapses and such in my brain - all of which were tied to a single thought - were so intrusive, the only way I can logically explain what happened in this extremely brief moment, was my brain had short circuited information that was coming in at the same time as my psychosis, that it formed a delusion that was superimposed over whatever had entered my brain at the onset of the psychosis. It could have been anything.
It took years of therapy, but mostly overcoming things on my own (due to stigma) that I was able to resolve my biggest fear, which was ultimately a lie.
Essentially my point is, that with the onset of schizophrenia - which doctors agree is triggered by acute psychosis - there appears to be a rapid, yet quite incredible, instant building or forming of such complex delusional patterns within the mind that most schizophrenics never recover, let alone become shaman or live productive, healthy lives... not to mention the majority will have to take medication throughout their entire life. That being said, though, these delusion patterns are quite simply unprecedented in how insanely complex they very well could be, that identifying such a delusional structure, even with the most advanced brain scan would be next to impossible! My best guess is somehow if a CAT scan were to work this way, the patient would objectively have to be reviewing the psychotic onset in his own mind at the very same time the scan were being conducted, which is just simply not possible to achieve without the scientific data to prove it. The amount of machines a person would need to be hooked up to to test this to get one cat scan done are beyond the financial capabilities of someone with even my insurance coverage. But still. I think a very good start with treatment in schizophrenia would be to first look at the onset, then look at the delusion, and find out what to do and how to work from there. Medication simply is not enough to handle the complexities of this!
Furthermore, delusions can become so intense that if a person were to build up the belief that they were "the only one" AKA solipsism, said person could go so far off the deep end that a singular event could cause the onset of insanity in that individual and they would never recover. How this works is difficult to discern without knowledge of how the brain works, but keep in mind the following is just a theory: given that solipsism can drive a person to great extremes, it could very well be the case that the belief held strongly and firmly in that person, who has shown evidence of having delusions, could very well take up a considerable portion of connections within the brain. This could possibly explain why insane people seem to tie very elaborate stories and character details to the delusions that lead them to um... hurt others.
Remember that point I said about schizophrenics being artistic? They are also very intelligent with IQ's generally around 140-150. But the schizophrenics I've known were also able to manage their delusions. How is this so, you ask? Well, despite it being incredibly controversial, schizophrenics in a nutshell deal with more than you do. By that I simply mean that they're feelings are a lot more intense. So let's look at the brain again. Left brain - logical. Right brain - artistic. Let's look at this another way. Left brain - male. Right brain - female. Left brain - yang. Right brain - yin. Lastly, two more examples: Left brain - delusions. Right brain - understanding.
I also believe that insane people are markedly different from schizophrenic people although many schizophrenics seem to be neurotic and hysterical and some of them even 'border on insanity'. The statistics, however, simply do not agree with those who suggest that schizophrenic people are "objectively dangerous". Those people are misled. Statistically schizophrenic people are far more likely to be the victim of violence than than the perpetrator. However, I will therefore put forth some ideas that may attempt to explain the nature that causes a person (often one who escapes the scrutiny and labels) to become insane. I will however leave out the socioeconomic reasons like privileges and such.
Schizophrenic people are much easier to diagnose. A trained doctor is familiar enough with the terms of a psychosis to understand either the differences between labeling a patient temporarily or giving a label that will (in most cases) never go away. In this particular case it's easier for us to assume that psychosis is psychosis but extreme psychosis is schizophrenia. For insane people this is not so. Insane people are more often borderline personality disorder in my opinion. Insane people are less likely to go through therapy and wind up seeing things 'through the eyes of another' or grieve properly or cope with things extraneous to this sentence's je ne se quois. Schizophrenics, however are more likely to be viewed as unexpressive. Insane people deal with things impulsively. Since we've already looked at the brain from different angles, let's tackle this like it is: Insane people are essentially schizophrenics who have mapped their brain in reverse. Rather than being delusional on the left hemisphere, they're delusional on the side of the brain that has more to with empathy.
Solipsism: from the Latin solus and ipse, which respectively mean alone and self. Literal definition: Alone Self. However, this definition can be rather expansive. Let me attempt to elaborate...
Psychiatry has many labels and none are stranger than those that have to do with solipsism. Taken literally, the term is [literally] what it implies. The self as alone. Many have a hard time understanding what this means and if you don't understand, chances are you've never experienced it before. But those who have are at somewhat of a loss or disadvantage, because many psychiatric labels have a lot to do with this one word. Let me tell you why. Or first, some examples.
Paranoid Schizophrenics have in common a delusion they suffer - albeit since everyone is unique - at varying levels and degrees. Paranoid in the context of schizophrenia usually means that someone has suffered a psychotic episode so severe that a sense of terror has overwhelmed them to the point of constant fear. Subjectively, there are two ways we can examine this. One is to look at the magnitude to what level of paranoia the patient is facing. Another way is often not considered by doctors and has more to do with solipsism. In the case of solipsism, the psychotic case was so severe and impacting that the patient quite seriously believes him/herself to be the only one in existence (who is not part of something that everyone else seems to be in on). The former way of looking at this seems to be just a way of simply ignoring that solipsism may be the underlying or root cause of the condition.
When taking a patient in under these conditions, keep in mind that the patient has experienced something that is not only unique to them but is a rare form of experience too. Put the two together and the result could be a person who has suffered a psychotic episode that resulted in them hearing terrifying voices and receiving terrifying thought forms that not only make them paranoid but lead them to believing their family, friends, and even their lover or they themselves are in on something that could lead to their entire world being destroyed.
Some of us have heard the phrase "schizophrenics believe the universe is for them". Here we can examine another way of looking at solipsism.
I understand there to be two types of solipsism which I will, here, call positive solipsism and negative solipsism. Positive solipsism is the result of trauma and can usually be overcome. Negative solipsism, however, is one of the most dangerous forms of delusion that can lead to insanity. Hopefully this thread will help anyone interested in the psychology of insanity to understand why that is. While positive solipsism can sometimes result in the person suffering the paranoia to commit suicide (which is understandable when you understand the condition), negative solipsism is usually harder to detect because it's easier to hide. Given that our societies seem to favor those who favor ego as their method of doing things like getting a career, meeting people, socializing, and being successful, identifying an insane person before they become insane is extremely difficult. If, however, a doctor is familiar with the traits of insane people, said doctor can easily distinguish these people it's said.
Incase you haven't figured it out yet, the two types of solipsism I've laid down here are as follows. One believes himself to be the ruler of the world despite not having the marks to be so. The other believes himself to be so low that he has somehow wound up in a reality where everything is out to get him.
There is also a neutral type of solipsism that I won't get into just yet. I kind of want to see how this thread does. But perhaps this next bit will attempt to explain what that neutral position on a spectrum might entail.
The two main forms of solipsism are so markedly different that I would have to say are most likely best considered as mutually exclusives, despite how eerie and odd that may sound. On one end of the spectrum you have a person who believes he's god and another on the other who believes he's the devil. These definitions never seem to paint a very accurate portrayal of how people under the mark of scrutiny and stigma feel when they receive a label like schizophrenia and nothing seems to explain these conditions to them in ways they can understand. Well... I understand that. And I also can attempt to explain why that is.
Regardless of being a left brain or right brain thinker, many schizophrenics are incredibly artistic. Keep that in mind for now. The left brain has mostly to do with math, science, philosophy, logical thinking, rationalizing, semantics and such... while the right brain seems to have more to do with the arts, music, creativity, and so on. What happens in the event of a psychotic episode severe enough to cause the onset of schizophrenia is actually far less complex than anyone might think, but I've so far not been able to prove it. The following will therefore be best thought of as a theory or example and in the form of my personal experience:
When my psychotic episode that later led to schizophrenia occurred, I was smoking a strain of marijuana called white widow when I all of sudden heard crows laughing at me, voices telling me I was doomed, government on a nearby laptop sending thought forms that I was to be raped in a manner so horrifying the likes of which no one -including the ones who died in the Golden Bull- have ever experienced. The thought form came on so suddenly at the same time of the onset of the psychosis that I have to believe that these things are somehow tied. My mind just as quickly and apparently created a number of hindering and heinous connections in the form of neurons within my left brain hemisphere that this delusion of how I was going to die quickly became quite literally the only thing on my mind. In fact, the burst and bind of neurons and synapses and such in my brain - all of which were tied to a single thought - were so intrusive, the only way I can logically explain what happened in this extremely brief moment, was my brain had short circuited information that was coming in at the same time as my psychosis, that it formed a delusion that was superimposed over whatever had entered my brain at the onset of the psychosis. It could have been anything.
It took years of therapy, but mostly overcoming things on my own (due to stigma) that I was able to resolve my biggest fear, which was ultimately a lie.
Essentially my point is, that with the onset of schizophrenia - which doctors agree is triggered by acute psychosis - there appears to be a rapid, yet quite incredible, instant building or forming of such complex delusional patterns within the mind that most schizophrenics never recover, let alone become shaman or live productive, healthy lives... not to mention the majority will have to take medication throughout their entire life. That being said, though, these delusion patterns are quite simply unprecedented in how insanely complex they very well could be, that identifying such a delusional structure, even with the most advanced brain scan would be next to impossible! My best guess is somehow if a CAT scan were to work this way, the patient would objectively have to be reviewing the psychotic onset in his own mind at the very same time the scan were being conducted, which is just simply not possible to achieve without the scientific data to prove it. The amount of machines a person would need to be hooked up to to test this to get one cat scan done are beyond the financial capabilities of someone with even my insurance coverage. But still. I think a very good start with treatment in schizophrenia would be to first look at the onset, then look at the delusion, and find out what to do and how to work from there. Medication simply is not enough to handle the complexities of this!
Furthermore, delusions can become so intense that if a person were to build up the belief that they were "the only one" AKA solipsism, said person could go so far off the deep end that a singular event could cause the onset of insanity in that individual and they would never recover. How this works is difficult to discern without knowledge of how the brain works, but keep in mind the following is just a theory: given that solipsism can drive a person to great extremes, it could very well be the case that the belief held strongly and firmly in that person, who has shown evidence of having delusions, could very well take up a considerable portion of connections within the brain. This could possibly explain why insane people seem to tie very elaborate stories and character details to the delusions that lead them to um... hurt others.
Remember that point I said about schizophrenics being artistic? They are also very intelligent with IQ's generally around 140-150. But the schizophrenics I've known were also able to manage their delusions. How is this so, you ask? Well, despite it being incredibly controversial, schizophrenics in a nutshell deal with more than you do. By that I simply mean that they're feelings are a lot more intense. So let's look at the brain again. Left brain - logical. Right brain - artistic. Let's look at this another way. Left brain - male. Right brain - female. Left brain - yang. Right brain - yin. Lastly, two more examples: Left brain - delusions. Right brain - understanding.
I also believe that insane people are markedly different from schizophrenic people although many schizophrenics seem to be neurotic and hysterical and some of them even 'border on insanity'. The statistics, however, simply do not agree with those who suggest that schizophrenic people are "objectively dangerous". Those people are misled. Statistically schizophrenic people are far more likely to be the victim of violence than than the perpetrator. However, I will therefore put forth some ideas that may attempt to explain the nature that causes a person (often one who escapes the scrutiny and labels) to become insane. I will however leave out the socioeconomic reasons like privileges and such.
Schizophrenic people are much easier to diagnose. A trained doctor is familiar enough with the terms of a psychosis to understand either the differences between labeling a patient temporarily or giving a label that will (in most cases) never go away. In this particular case it's easier for us to assume that psychosis is psychosis but extreme psychosis is schizophrenia. For insane people this is not so. Insane people are more often borderline personality disorder in my opinion. Insane people are less likely to go through therapy and wind up seeing things 'through the eyes of another' or grieve properly or cope with things extraneous to this sentence's je ne se quois. Schizophrenics, however are more likely to be viewed as unexpressive. Insane people deal with things impulsively. Since we've already looked at the brain from different angles, let's tackle this like it is: Insane people are essentially schizophrenics who have mapped their brain in reverse. Rather than being delusional on the left hemisphere, they're delusional on the side of the brain that has more to with empathy.
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