There are several types of schizophrenia, but paranoid schizophrenia is the most common. The patient has delusions that people are deliberately trying to persecute her, may well consider herself highborn, or perhaps that she has been sent on a special mission by the Government, although she is not always sure what that mission might be.
Jealousy is another unpleasant symptom, along with hearing voices that have a threatening tone or directly threaten her. Sometimes it smells and tastes things that are not real.
The onset of this disease is usually between the ages of 15 and 35, and although there is no cure, it can be controlled with conventional medications such as Thorazine, Prolixin, Haldol and Stelazine. These drugs became available in the 1950s.
More advanced drugs have appeared in the last decade, such as Abilify, Zyprexa, Seroquel and Geodon. However, doctors recommend that if you have been prescribed treatment with the older medications, you should stick with them and not try to switch.
The DSM-IV, (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, volume four), defines the disease as follows:
1 ‘Preoccupation with one or more systematized delusions, or with frequent auditory hallucinations related to a single theme.
2. None of the following must be present. Incoherence, marked loosening of association, flat or grossly inappropriate affect, catatonic behavior, grossly disorganized behavior.
A man with a classic case of paranoid schizophrenia was Ronald Kray. He, along with his twin brother Reggie, were two of the most vicious villains that London, especially the East End, has had the displeasure to encounter. His reign of terror spanned nearly two decades, through the ’50s and ’60s.
Their gang, or ‘The Firm’ as they insisted it be called, included a character named Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie. He was employed as a hit man and general enforcer. Now Reggie was much more balanced than Ronnie and often fell under the spell of his twin.
Jack the Hat was given £1,500 to take out a rival gangster. For whatever reason, he didn’t honor the contract and the Krays invited him to a house party in Hackney, East London. Except there wasn’t a party. Jack was the only guest.
As soon as he was through the door, Ronnie told Reggie to shoot him. The gun misfired twice, so Ronnie took Jack into a bear hug, handed Reggie a knife, and told her to do what she had to. Reggie did it heartily.
That is just one example. No one knew where they stood with Ronnie. He could be your best friend one minute and carve his name between your shoulder blades the next. Without reason. Just sudden violence, a sudden desire to kill or maim.
The brothers owned an exclusive nightclub in London’s West End, and of course this dovetailed with Ronnie’s feelings of self-importance. Violence, a pervasive symptom of the disease, and jealousy were two of the main traits that Ronnie displayed.
Eventually he and his brother were arrested by Superintendent Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read of Scotland Yard and jailed for life.
Freud was of the opinion that patients would suffer from severe mental disorders for life and would slowly but surely be washed into the gutter. He was wrong, as we will see later.
