Schizophrenia and Primitive Mental States

Drugs may relieve psychic suffering but often at the expense of the patient's humanity, argues clinician Peter Giovacchini. He shows how to move beyond the alleviation of florid symptoms that psychopharmacology provides and offers schizophrenic patients true cure and the possibility of living a full and related life. Only through an in-depth submersion in the patient's world can we restore the patient's mind, and, more precisely, move the patient from a grim, concrete and mechanistic reality into a creative and alive transitional space. This submersion may involve considerable suffering for both patient and therapist, but it may also be the only way to enable the patient to get in touch with his or her fundamental humanity.