Is psychosis caused by defective dissociation? An artificial life model for schizophrenia

We argue that dissociation is a standard tool used by the mind to protect itself from painful emotions. In case of repeated traumas, the mind learns to adopt selective forms of dissociation to avoid pain without losing touch with external reality. We conjecture that this process is defective in schizophrenia, where dissociation is either too weak, giving rise to positive symptoms, or too strong, causing negative symptoms.