---
title: "Interpretation of Schizophrenia"
chunk: 4/5
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretation_of_Schizophrenia"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:32:51.800940+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Schizophrenic thinking ==
Arieti describes a distinct type of logic, separate from the aristotelian logic used by modern man in advanced societies, called "paleological thinking", or primary process thinking. In paleological thought, nature's events are attributed to the will of outside forces. "If the greeks were afflicted by an epidemic, it was because Phoebus wanted to punish Agamemnon." In the world of paleological thinking, every happening that is relevant to the schizophrenic's complexes is interpreted as being willed by the projected persecutors of the individual. Primary process thinking, which is only encountered in dreams and in early childhood by modern man, is adapted by the schizophrenic to reduce destructive anxiety. Aristotelian logic is abandoned almost entirely, and primary process thinking gains more and more footing as the disease progresses from acute to chronic schizophrenia.
In deterministic or paleological/teleologic causality, if Nature's happenings were not willed they simply would not occur. In paranoid projection the schizophrenic takes out from him/herself a disagreeable part of the self onto the world. In Interpretation of schizophrenia Arieti illustrates all of the above theoretical constructions with concrete cases of his clinical experience as a psychiatrist. Anxiety-provoking material is projected onto the environment, because for the schizophrenic it is easier to be accused by others, than to accuse oneself. So for the person who feels disappointed with his life, and with himself, who sees himself as a failure, it is easier to imagine being persecuted by a group of agents who themselves are as deplorable and worthless, as he deep down sees himself, and want to bring him down to their level. It is less anxiety-provoking than to admit to himself that he sees himself as being worthless and deplorable, and it restores a sense of control, and also helps bolster self-esteem through gross over-appraisal of oneself as an individual who is persecuted because he is exceptional for one reason or another, such as being a savior, a prophet, etc.
Thus the patient who sees himself as a faker, a liar, or a homosexual will instead transform his inner persecutory world and project it onto the world, in the form of persecutors who accuse him of being a spy, a homosexual, a liar, or a faker, etc. It is no longer he who accuses himself of being worthless, rotten, but it is "them" accusing him. It is "them" who are after him, who want to ruin him and bring him down. The self-image and self-esteem are improved at the cost of gross distortion of reality and of the self-image.
When a patient states he is Jesus he is compensating a feeling of extreme humiliation at home. The paranoid schizophrenic, Arieti explains, resorts to "teleologic causality" or animism to understand the world. He writes that whatever occurs to the patient is interpreted as willed by the split off, internal negative parental images of the patient. With paranoid schizophrenics, the paleological thinking and distortion are limited only to the complexes of the person, while in hebephrenic patients there is a total and complete disintegration of aristotelian logic, and the entire personality is reduced to primary process thinking. Arieti observed that paranoid schizophrenia is more common in children who frequently felt rejected or neglected by their parents, and in brighter schizophrenics who were able to maintain a set of inner persecutory complexes that helped avoid destructive anxiety, whereas in hebephrenics this distortion failed to alleviate anxiety, causing further regression.
In the case of catatonic patients, it is more common that the patient was subjected to overbearing parenting and had little to no chance of asserting themselves. The catatonic patient internalizes the overbearing parental image, and chooses immobility to avoid provoking the ire of the internalized persecutory parental image. He brings up the example of a catatonic patient who, after introjecting the mother's engulfing behavior, believed that by moving he could produce havoc. The patient's feelings, according to Arieti, became reminiscent of cosmic powers that may cause the destruction of the universe, so the patient chose immobility. For Arieti, the selectivity of certain motor actions is proof that catatonia is not a biological disease or illness, but rather a disorder of the will.