Schizophrenia: A psychosomatic disorder?

Opinions regarding the nature of schizophrenia form a spectrum ranging from the belief that the condition is purely mental or psychologic involving an overwhelmed ego, to the Opinion that it is organic, probably an inherited metabolic abnormality resulting from a toxic disturbance of the brain. No demonstrable structural changes in the brain have been shown in controlled neuropathologic studies. Despite the extensive investigations of the condition, there have been relatively few individuals who have considered the possibility that schizophrenia might be a true psychosomatic disorder, that is, a condition in which the function of an organ (the brain) is disturbed or abnormal because of emotional stress or conflict, and in which the symptoms are the result of the organ's dysfunction. This paper proposes this thesis for further consideration.