[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s add to our previous discussion. Go ahead.
Rick Rosner: You’ve touched on something I hadn’t considered: self-talk, or the internal feedback we give ourselves. For those who are mentally unwell or becoming so, the narratives in their minds play a significant role. People engage in self-talk to varying degrees. For instance, individuals with schizophrenia may not even recognize that the voices they hear are a product of their own minds. This lack of acknowledgment of a unified consciousness seems to be a symptom of schizophrenia, where internal dialogue is perceived as external.
Then, there are people whose internal cognition is less verbal, perhaps less introspective. Consider dogs, for instance. They likely don’t engage in complex verbal self-talk, maybe just simple thoughts like ‘walk’ or ‘food’. Dogs model the world in their minds, but words aren’t a significant part of this process. They think about things without relying heavily on language.
Among people, the extent of verbal self-messaging varies. Some might engage in extensive self-dialogue, while others do so less. This self-talk can lead to self-brainwashing, for better or worse. Take ‘The Secret’, a book promoted by Oprah. It’s essentially about the power of positive thinking, suggesting that if you believe in something strongly enough, you can achieve it.
Jacobsen: That sounds delusional.
Rosner: Perhaps, but not entirely. The idea that the world will conform to your wishes is delusional. However, if self-talk involves constantly reminding yourself of your goals, like making it to the Olympics in cross-country skiing, and it drives you to train intensively, then it can be quite effective. I recently read about Cooper Kupp in the LA Times. He’s a star receiver for the Rams heading to the Super Bowl, known for his obsessive preparation. He secured 24-hour access to his college football offices to watch game films and would invite his quarterback to join him. His relentless training and strategic preparation, partly fueled by self-talk, significantly contributed to his success. So, self-talk, when it drives such dedication, can indeed help realize dreams. But it can also lead to self-brainwashing.
The bullets you fire at yourself through self-talk can be as influential as the coercive, normative messages from external sources. And speaking of mental health, schizophrenia is largely characterized by a disconnection from reality. According to the Mayo Clinic, delusions in schizophrenia are false beliefs not based on reality, and hallucinations involve seeing or hearing things that don’t exist.
To grasp schizophrenia, we need to consider both the macro and micro perspectives. The macro description addresses how those with schizophrenia no longer model reality accurately. This indicates an organic malfunction in the brain. To delve deeper, we should consider what’s happening at the chemical level. My personal experiences with LSD, which I regret, gave me some insight into this. LSD disrupts the brain’s ability to smoothly integrate thoughts and sensory experiences, leading to poorly processed information. For instance, faces might appear distorted, resembling early video game graphics with their wireframe and polygonal structures. This glitchy processing might be similar to what occurs in schizophrenia.
Being drunk, by contrast, slows down cognitive processing. You don’t hallucinate, but your brain can’t process information quickly enough, affecting balance and reaction time. I’m not entirely sure how alcohol affects the brain, but it seems like it deprives the brain of the energy needed for real-time processing, though the signal pathways remain largely intact until one passes out. In schizophrenia, however, I believe the pathways are glitchy.
Jacobsen: Yes, brain abnormalities are a key factor in schizophrenia. Referring to the Mayo Clinic, schizophrenia is identified as a brain disease. Researchers have observed changes in the brain, though the significance of these differences isn’t fully understood. The disorganization in speech can be indicative of the structure of thought in those with schizophrenia. Delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech all point to a disconnect from reality and an impaired ability to verbally model it accurately.
Rosner: Schizophrenia could be causing certain processing pathways to break down more severely than others. This is somewhat analogous to Alzheimer’s disease, which progressively severs connections in the brain. Studies on nuns who remained mentally active into old age, engaging in activities like crossword puzzles, showed that despite significant brain deterioration, they could still think effectively due to redundant pathways. In contrast, less mentally active individuals without these redundant pathways suffer more when connections are severed. They’re left with existing pathways that lead to incorrect conclusions, resulting in irrational beliefs or the inability to recognize that certain people have long passed away.
In schizophrenia, if the condition is causing your brain to deteriorate while leaving some pathways intact, it can significantly affect how you perceive and process information. In a typical person, various signals and thoughts compete within the active consciousness, generating numerous hypotheses. Most of these hypotheses go unnoticed as the real world unfolds, and incorrect assumptions are quickly dismissed. For example, you might momentarily think there’s a person in the doorway, only to realize almost instantly that it’s not the case. Your brain often jumps to conclusions to prepare you for potential situations, like anticipating someone at the doorway.
I experienced a similar confusion when we inherited a large TV. We placed this 50-inch screen in our kitchen, against a window that doesn’t offer much of a view. The size of the screen often displays people in actual size, so when watching the news, a person’s face might appear as it would in real life. This realism can be jarring, especially when someone in the newsroom walks behind the news anchor, momentarily making it seem like there’s someone in our backyard. The brain momentarily confuses the figures on TV with real people in your environment due to the perspective offered by the large screen.
Similarly, when I drop something, I often catch myself thinking, “I knew I was going to drop it.” This is because I’m more aware of the various potential outcomes my brain is preparing for. When carrying something, one of the many scenarios your brain considers is the possibility of dropping it. If it happens, you might berate yourself, but in reality, it’s just your brain preparing for a range of potential outcomes.
In the case of someone with schizophrenia, if certain thoughts or perceptions are getting through while others are blocked, their understanding of the world can become severely distorted. Their self-talk, the hypotheses they form about themselves and the world, can become increasingly disconnected from reality. This disconnection can lead to a profoundly altered and often troubling interpretation of their surroundings and experiences.
[Recording End]
Authors
Rick Rosner
American Television Writer
Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Founder, In-Sight Publishing
In-Sight Publishing
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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://www.rickrosner.org.
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Rick Rosner 