Medytacje nad treścią fantazmatu schizofrenii. W poszukiwaniu granic destygmatyzacji

AimThe aim of the paper is to underline the ways of understanding and using the term “schizophrenia” in modern psychiatry, especially in the context of destigmatization.Starting from one of the theses mentioned by Andrzej Leder in Dreamt revolution we wonder to which degree is the change in the ways of seeing and understanding schizophrenia by society possible and what are the limits of destigmatization. We point out that nowadays many narrations about schizophrenia exist in parallel. These narrations have different recipients and at least partially exclude each other.We question the legitimacy of the statement ‘there are no schizophrenics, there is schizophrenia’ as well as the model describing schizophrenia as brain disease separable from patient's self.We also criticize the concept enabling the ‘externalization’ of psychosis which dominates in modern biomedical model and the destigmatized speech rooted in it. We point out that ‘externalization’ might be creating false reality and aggravating actual exclusion of people with severe mental illnesses. We contrast the biomedical model with the phenomenological concept in which the basic core of schizophrenia is explained by self-disorders.ConclusionsPhenomenological perspective of schizophrenia as a separate and different way of existence is both closer to biological science and more therapeutically useful. What remains problematic is how and to which extent should this ‘otherness’ be spoken about with patients and their families and expressed in the area of destigmatization.