R.D. Laing and psychiatry

¶ … Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness by R.D. Laing. Specifically it will discuss the question "What, in Laing's view, is the schizophrenic trying to communicate?" Laing's book was one of the first to study and discuss the schizophrenic in detail, and his book is fascinating as a result. He was critical of psychiatry and believed schizophrenics have valid memories and communications that illustrated their own reality. Most psychologists believe schizophrenia is genetically based, but Laing's view is different, and depends far more on what the patient is attempting to communicate. Schizophrenics display split personalities and problems with relating to themselves and the world. Laing hoped his book would shed light on schizophrenics for the layman, and hoped it would help people become more understanding of psychosis and madness. Laing believes schizophrenics are trying to communicate they are alive, but do not feel alive or full of life. They are lonely, isolated in their own world, and they want others to understand the pain this loneliness creates.

Laing believes it is necessary to know and understand the psychotic patient, and to relate to him as normally as possible. He writes, "What is necessary, though not enough, is a capacity to know how the patient is experiencing himself and the world, including oneself" (Laing 35). By interviewing and studying several patients, Laing was able to discover the feelings, motivations, and inspirations for schizophrenics, and to illuminate these feelings for others. He literally attempted to climb inside their heads and view the world through their eyes, and so, he discovered more about them than any other researcher had before. Ultimately, he believes that schizophrenics are so fearful of being misunderstood, that they isolate themselves on purpose, and this is part of the way they communicate. He writes, "It is lonely and painful to be always misunderstood, but there is at least from this point-of-view a measure of safety in isolation" (Laing 47). Thus, in at least some ways, schizophrenics communicate ineffectively on purpose, as a way to protect their safety or isolation. In fact, they use miscommunication on purpose to save themselves pain and ensure their own safety.

One schizophrenic in Laing's study was James, a twenty-eight-year-old chemist. James says "I am only a response to other people, I have no identity of my own'" (Laing 50). This sums up how many schizophrenics feel about their existence and how other people see them. Surrounded by "normal" people, he felt even more disenfranchised and overwhelmed, and felt they were on a larger scale than he was and could ever be (Laing 50). He also tended to merge his identity with others, which seems to be totally opposed to his fears, but Laing maintains this is common in schizophrenics, who bounce between two polar extremes inside themselves.

In complete contrast, another patient, "Mrs. R," lived entirely in fear of not mattering to another person, and desperately searched for recognition and someone to believe in her. Laing writes, "She is like Tinker Bell. In order to exist she needs someone else to believe in her existence" (Laing 60). Laing shows there are many very different manifestations of schizophrenia and psychosis, and that each person has different needs, wants, and methods of dealing with these problems.

Another, even more interesting case, concerns David, a young man who never had a clear vision of his own self, but rather felt he was always an actor on a stage, becoming anything those around him wanted him to be. Because of this, he never developed a feeling of self, and he believed everyone was "acting" throughout his or her lives, just as he was. Laing writes, "By always playing a part he found he could in some measure overcome his shyness, self-consciousness, and vulnerability" (Laing 74). Thus, like the other patients Laing portrays in this book, David learned to communicate outside of himself and his own self, never allowing himself to be consumed or understood by those around him. In addition, he perceived a direct "split" in his personality between his "self" and his "personality," something that many other patients experienced. They felt they were two people, split into two parts if you will, and that they could not effectively communicate this with others. In some people, this showed up as a feeling they were outside their own body, looking in. As Laing notes, "The body may go on acting in an outwardly normal way, but inwardly it is felt to be acting on its own, automatically" (Laing 83). Clearly, this would affect how the person viewed the world around him or her, and how they communicated as well. This dreamlike state is difficult to put into words, even in "sane" individuals.

Each of these people communicated differently, but they were all using their communications to indicate their loneliness, fear, and isolation. Because they live in a world of their own making, they have different motivations and needs than the "sane" individual, and yet, they can appear very rational and normal at times. Many of them carry on relationships and careers very successfully for the most part. They hide much of what they are feeling to protect themselves, but also because most of society would not understand them if they communicated what they were really feeling. It is this fear of being misunderstood that guides much of their communication and their experience with others in the world.

While each person communicated differently, there is a consistency to the results of their communication. Each person alienated others with their conversations, from James who saw others as machines and referred to even loved ones as "it," to David, who saw himself as an actor and usually spoke quoted lines rather than his own thoughts. Each of these patients used communication and miscommunication in order to keep their own feelings and ideas private and hidden away. They all had deep-seated fears, and used communication as a way to cover up or dispel these fears. Many also had feelings of self-hatred that were difficult for them to communicate as well, and so they often created self-destructive physical behaviors in a way to express these feelings.