The perception of authorship in schizophrenia - the analysis of activity patterns in autonarrations

Abstract

The paper presents the study of narrations of schizophrenic patients focused on the description of activities characteristics. The aim is to answer the question of how experiencing of psychotic crisis influences the perception of their authorship. Do the inherent characteristics of the activity differ with reference to the period of life which they relate to: the time before getting sick, or after falling ill with schizophrenia? The material consisted of narrations of 26 people with schizophrenia about their life prior to the illness and after the psychotic crisis. Linguistic categories that make up the patterns of activity have been distinguished. The frequency of the occurrence was compared in both narrations. Self-descriptions after falling ill are more saturated with patterns of avoidance, motivation internally localized connected with attempts of coping with the disease and externally localized action control connected with a decreased sense of authorship in relation to experiencing symptoms and reduction of social competence. The change of self-image after psychotic experience concerns the deeper planes of narrative, i.e. the patterns of activity hidden in connection between the content and narrative form. The research showed the decrease of the sense of agency associated with the disease experience.