The biographical component of schizophrenia: a two-faced definition of relationship?

The schizophrenic's disturbed relationship with reality is generally ascrib ed to a mental illness of endogenous origin. Following the author's paper o n a fixation disorder (1) provable in these patients, she expounds that the ir disturbed relationship with reality does not primarily concern their con sciousness of objective reality but of their own self. As a result of contr adictory definitions of relationship within his group (2,3) the schizophren ic is unable to integrate the awareness of his potentialities with the awar eness of his social role. He cannot protect himself against a joker role im posed on him since his fixation disorder acts like a one-way valve impeding him from taking an active part in the definition of relationship. A hypothesis is presented as to how the schizophrenic's described fixation disorder may cause this one-way functioning of the definition of relationsh ip.