TOW #6- A Conversation on the Edge of Human Perception

Christopher Bollas is a British psychoanalyst and author of many books studying different branches of psychology, primarily the mental disorder schizophrenia. In his memoir, "A Conversation on the Edge of Human Perception", he depicts his many interactions with his subject, a woman he calls Lucy. Lucy is a schizophrenic, and often time her hallucinations and long-winded stories are the prime subject of his research. Despite schizophrenia having no definable cure, Bollas seems to find a way to help diminish her hallucinations with simple conversation and analysis. As a psychoanalyst, Bollas follows the belief that the way the mind works is settled within the unconscious brain and that mental disorders are manifested under 'hidden' circumstances. By following this approach to psychology, Bollas believes that every behaviorism that Lucy portrays has a trigger, and puts that together in order to help her feel better. In comparison to other strategies, such as the neurobiological approach, which focuses on chemical imbalance, he believes that faults in personalities or behaviorism have a more mentally rooted cause. Through his memoir, Bollas is trying to encourage other psychologists to use the psychoanalytic method when it comes to therapy, especially for schizophrenics. In his memoir, he uses cause and effect in order to explain Lucy's behavior and to explain how the psychoanalytic approach works. He discusses how she believed that she was once attacked by a dragon. When he looks back on their conversation, he discovers what the source may have been for her vivid hallucination. He says "I suddenly realized that earlier in the session I had told her it was good that of late her bad memories were not “dragging on,” and I said that I thought my use of this phrase might have brought an image of the dragon into her mind," (para 13). He brings up a connection that the reader may not have noticed directly in order to give a purpose to her behavior. Bollas also describes that it is often that schizophrenics are treated with medication opposed to therapeutic help. He says "Sadly, many of today’s schizophrenics receive powerful antipsychotic medications in hospitals and are discharged on a cocktail of drugs that dulls their lives. Their zombielike states are caused not so much by their mental alterity as by their treatment. The tragic irony of this approach is that the patient is met with a process parallel to schizophrenia itself: radical incarceration, mind-altering actions, dehumanization, isolation," (para 18). His word choice, such as the words 'zombie' and 'dehumanization' gives the reader a sense o responsibility. It makes the reader believe that somehow they have done something in order to encourage this oppression, and makes us feel pity the schizophrenic opposed to shun them. With teh use of Lucy, as well, he provides us with a face. She is a character that the reader can see and understand and listen to, and the reader can make of her what they will. However, anything that the reader may interpret from her behavior is entirely their opinion and is not depicted by the author for the reader. Bollas, using his strategies, provides us with a rather interesting and influential memoir. By placing the responsibility on the reader to develop their own opinions and beliefs on the schizophrenic, it forces the reader to make the choice on their own. However, it is the logic that supports the second part of his point. So many times psychologists turn to medical attention opposed to communication and understanding when psychologists are trying to help a person with a mental disorder. Instead, Bollas believes that psychologists should turn to the psychoanalytic approach in order to properly assess the person that is being dealt with.