Nathaniel Ayes' "The Soloist" and the History of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental ailment in which the person inflicted is taunted by uncontrollable voices heard inside their heads and very vivid, realistic hallucinations. The voices and hallucinations can be benevolent, but they can also be violent. Many cases constitute of people being told by such voices to hurt themselves or others. People who suffer from Schizophrenia are often isolated from society and admitted into psychiatric wards and mental institutions for the majority of their lives. The general public does not understand the torment that these people go through on a day-to-day basis. In order to give readers insight into the mind of a schizophrenic, the poet Jim Stevens uses the depleting condition and turmoil taking place inside

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the definition of Schizophrenia is “a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves” (2016). In 1887, Dr. Emile Kraepelin was the first to acknowledge Schizophrenia. Patients were having memory loss and not acting like themselves. When studying patients, he believed that it was much like dementia except in this particular case, the disease formed earlier in life. Dr. Kraeplin even named it "dementia praecox" meaning “early dementia”. After more research was conducted on this disease, Eugen Bleuler came to conclusion that this was not even close to dementia. So, in 1911, he changed the name to Schizophrenia.

According to Mathers et al., (1996) “Schizophrenia ranks among the top ten causes of disability worldwide and affects one in one hundred people at some point in their lives.” (Cardwell and Flanagan, 2012). Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder which is commonly diagnosed in 15-30 year old individuals. It disrupts a person’s cognition, perceptions and emotions, making it extremely difficult to diagnose. Bleuler (1911) introduced the term schizophrenia, which translates as ‘split-mind’ or ‘divided self’ and accounts for the earlier interpretations of the disease. These misunderstandings and the ongoing misrepresentations, especially within the media, has stigmatised the illness. This raises the need for better understanding and

“The Soloist” is a movie about a talented musician in his mid-fifties named Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. He attended Julliard but had to drop out due to the onset of schizophrenic episodes. His time at Julliard playing the cello was cut short when the voices in his head at the onset of his schizophrenia began to interfere with his playing. After having difficulties with his family, he found himself living on the streets of Los Angeles.

In the early 1900’s, Eugen Bleuler coined the term “schizophrenia.” Schizophrenia is from the Greek roots “schizo” meaning split and “phrene” meaning mind. This specific mental illness is commonly characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and very unresponsive emotional behavior. Delusions are most commonly those of grandeur, persecution, and reference. Delusions of grandeur are characterized by the belief that you have special powers you do not possess. The belief everyone is after you is what makes up delusions of persecution. Lastly, the belief that everyone is talking about you and everything pertains to you is what delusions of reference are characterized by. In addition, the patient often suffers from

Schizophrenia which affects approximately 1 percent of the population, usually begins before age 25 and persists throughout life. The illness is a life long debilitating condition for about 40% of patients and is enormously costly in both social and economic terms. Despite the presence of delusions, hallucinations and cognitive impairment which characterize the illness, overall life expectancy is not altered (although there is a significantly increased risk-of suicide in the early years).

A Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler called the disorder schizophrenia in 1911. He was also the first to describe the symptoms as positive or negative. Bleuler changed the name to schizophrenia because it was obvious that Krapelin’s term was misleading. The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek roots schizo, which means split, and phrene, which means mind. Bleuler’s term was not meant to convey the idea of split or multiple personality, a common

Schizophrenia is derived from the “Greek words 'schizo ' which means split and 'phrene ', which means mind” (Schizophrenia, 2016). One can see how these two words would bring out the meaning of Schizophrenia, as a person with this identity disorder can experience more voices than normal in their mind. However, this disorder is not to be mixed up with multiple personality disorder. Benedict Morel was the first person to propose the theory of Schizophrenia. This particular man thought schizophrenia was an innate biological defect and symptoms come from your family lineage (Jeste & Mueser, 2008). Not only is this disorder thought to be in one’s family lineage it is thought to occur in more men than women. Schizophrenia was first brought to light and “classified as a distinct mental disorder by

Emil Kraeplin, a German physician was one of the first to categorize mental disorders and he used the term dementia praecox for individuals who had symptoms that we now associate with schizophrenia. Since then our understanding of this mental illness has evolved even though the causes of this illness to this day remain hard to comprehend. (Weiner, 1997)

This mental disease was first identified by a German physician Dr. Emile Kraepelin in 1887. He used the term “dementia praecox” believing this was a disease of the brain. Eugene Bleur later on changed the name to schizophrenia, as the name before was misleading. Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), convinced many that this disorder was due to childhood experiences (LLC, 2017). ‘Fever therapy’ used to be a treatment used by physicians in the twenties.

Socially the term Schizophrenia has a certain caricature about it that society has turned into a very serious social stigma. Many associate the disorder with criminals, nut houses, and extreme uncontrollable violence. Schizophrenia is portrayed in literature, and in movies so horrendously negative that those who experience symptoms of this very serious mental disorder can be in a stage of denial that can ultimately cause them to go undiagnosed, that is until something goes wrong. In spite of myths and portrayals in pop culture schizophrenia is sometimes viewed as split personality, but the root of the word comes from the Greek word schizo and phrene which loosely translates into split mind (Internet Mental Health Initiative 2010).

In 1898, a German psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin, described the confusion with the side effects and named this disorder in the Latin expression, dementia praecox. Later in 1908, Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist, initially named the expression "Schizophrenia". Schizophrenia comes from the mix of the Greek words for split (skhizein)

“Schizophrenia” is a relatively new label of an illness that has been identified throughout history since ancient Egyptian times. Prior to being named in 1911 by Eugen Bleuler, reports of illness with similar symptoms were being referred to as “dementia praecox”, meaning dementia in early life (The Internet Mental Health Initiative, 2015). Bleuler questioned the claim that this illness was a result of mental deterioration and instead believed “schizophrenia led to a heightened consciousness of memories and experiences” (Sussex Publishers, LLC., 2015). Bleuler combined Greek words “schizo” (split) and “phrene” (mind) to more accurately describe what he had observed in patients. He did not believe that the mind split into parts or personalities, but more so that the mind would split away from reality and existence into an altered state (Sussex Publishers, LLC., 2015).

Schizophrenia has no actual definition, but it describes a series of events and actions that a person ususally experiences. Schizophrenia is a psychosis. ( Smith, 1992, p.23-25 ) Psychosis describes a disorder where a group of mental disturbances happen. Schizophrenia is described to be a psychosis because it causes the victim to lose the ability to be in touch with society and its functions. For example, a person may begin to "see" animals that are not there, or may begin to characterize themselves as a famous person from the past such as Queen Elizabeth or King Edward. ( Kvarnes, Parloff, 1983, p.220-223)

Even with the advancements in science and the new technologies available, the causes of schizophrenia are still unknown. In 1911 a Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, developed the term schizophrenia. “This word comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind) to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder” (Johns Hopkins Medicine). By developing the term schizophrenia, it allowed others to better understanding the disorder and move away from linking it to the common misunderstanding of having multiple or split personalities. Although this does not give us an understanding of the causes of the disorder, it does help to clarify and assist with classifying people with the symptoms associated with the