Self-Schema and Mental Health: Understanding Identity Formation

Introduction to Self-Schema Theory

Today, all directions of psychological study recognize the importance of an individual's understanding of themselves in order to achieve and maintain mental health. Indeed, mental health often begins to suffer precisely when such self-understanding malfunctions. Feenstra's concept of self-schema provides a useful starting point for understanding the self.

The concept of self-schema refers to an individual's conscious and unconscious beliefs and assumptions about themselves. This framework can be used not only by individuals to understand the self better and promote mental health and functioning, but also by professional psychologists and researchers seeking to understand and assist those whose self-schemas have malfunctioned in some way.

Understanding Self-Schema Formation and Organization

Self-schema, by definition, refers to a set of memories about the self created over the long term. Generally, these memories have achieved stability and represent a person's beliefs, experiences, and generalizations about themselves and how they would behave in specific situations. These beliefs, generalizations, and experiences can refer to any aspect of the individual's self, including physical appearance, personality traits, and interests. To function as a self-schema, the individual must consider these beliefs important to their own self-definition.

It is well accepted in psychology that each individual experiences the self differently. This difference arises from the distinct self-schemas that each person builds over a lifetime of experience (Horowitz, 2012). Since these schemas are generally unconscious, individuals usually have little control over the generalizations that become dominant at different times. An individual with an introverted self-schema, for example, would experience discomfort in social situations. This is an unconscious reaction based on the individual's past experiences and cultivated beliefs about themselves.

According to Horowitz (2012), self-schemas are unconscious but can be fed by both conscious and unconscious inputs. Experience may reinforce or dispel an existing self-schema, which will affect the strength and longevity of that schema. The inputs that feed self-schemas can be of either personal or social origin and are not necessarily consistent with each other. A lack of consistency in self-schema organization, however, can lead to a fragmented sense of self, which in turn can result in mental malfunction when driven to the extreme.

Horowitz (2012) refers to the organization of self-schemas as self-organization. When the organization is relatively consistent, one achieves a harmonious self-organization. This is why researchers in psychodynamics find the study of self-schema valuable for determining the origin and treatment of mental disorders and for achieving a better understanding of an individual's mental functioning.

According to Horowitz (2012), the idea of identity is a sense of sameness in the self-schema over time. The more consistent the organization of self-schemas, the more consistent and solid the idea of identity, whether in conscious or intuitive form. These self-schemas can occur in the form of scripts, future intentions and expectations, and core values. Scripts are created by repeated experience, which forges the self-schema into a consistent belief or concept. This affects the individual's intentions and expectations about self-realization. Core values form the basis of scripts and future intentions.

Schema Therapy for Personality Disorders

Because of the complex and integrated nature of self-schemas, faulty functioning in any aspect of these can result in significant mental disorders. However, an understanding of schema formation and functioning can help therapists create effective modes of treatment, as suggested by Renner, Van Goor, Huibers, Arntz, Butz, and Bernstein (2013).

The authors conducted a study on the effects of schema therapy on young adults with personality disorders. This therapy was offered in a group setting and showed promise in terms of both long-term and short-term intervention. Renner et al. (2013) also investigated maladaptive schemas, along with their stability and effect on coping responses while the focus groups were undergoing intervention.

The importance of studying and understanding the functioning of self-schemas becomes clear when it is considered that personality disorders usually have their onset in adolescence or early adulthood. The effect of these disorders could be devastating in terms of the future functioning of such individuals. In the light of various current crises in terms of economy and healthcare, it is highly desirable that effective alternatives be found to often expensive psychiatric and drug interventions. This would both alleviate the pressure on the healthcare system and offer individuals the opportunity to contribute to the economy in the long term.

The authors emphasize that schema therapy is a relatively new intervention approach for chronic Axis I and Axis II disorders. In these disorders, stable early maladaptive schemas are identified and modified in order to help the individual function better as a person and develop a more harmonious sense of identity. Hence, the psychotherapist seeks to use schema therapy to reduce the effect of early maladaptive schemas and replace them with more positive coping responses and schemas.

The results of the work conducted by Renner et al. (2013) show that schema therapy can offer both a valuable and effective intervention for the personality disorders considered. Indeed, the intervention was even shown to be effective in the short term in terms of reducing symptomatic distress in the groups investigated, as well as underlying vulnerability. This short-term effectiveness is especially valuable in light of cost-effective treatment as an alternative to more intensive and expensive drug-based interventions. It is also far less invasive and traumatic than drug interventions for personality disorders and more cost-effective than individual long-term therapy.

A further important aspect of the findings is that therapists who find themselves reluctant to diagnose personality disorders in young adults can safely use schema therapy as an intervention method to reduce identified maladaptive schemas. This reduces both the dangers posed by these schemas to individuals, their families, and their environment, and provides a cost-effective way to manage the disorder. Hence, even younger adults displaying difficult personality features or precursors to disorders can be treated both safely and effectively.

Consciousness, True Self, and Life Fulfillment

An individual's own understanding of the self can be enhanced by consciously accessing his or her self-schemas (Schlegel, Hicks, King, and Arndt, 2011). The metacognitive paradigm of understanding the self can be highly useful in creating and maintaining a sense of self that is fulfilling and satisfying, ultimately leading to a sense of better individual and social functioning.

It is from this basis that Schlegel and colleagues study the idea of the "true self" and the effect of an individual's understanding of such a true self. The investigation focused on the correlation between conscious awareness of the true self and the sense of fulfillment experienced in life. Schlegel et al. (2011) found that the perception of self-knowledge in a consistent and conscious way contributes to a person's choices regarding the meaning of life judgments even more than mood and self-esteem do.

Conclusion: Clinical and Personal Implications

It is therefore clear that the study and awareness of self-schemas are important aspects of maintaining an individual's psychological health and functioning in all aspects of life. It is therefore important that therapists understand this aspect of the nature of individuals in a clear and consistent way.