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In reading “Interpretations of Schizophrenia” by Silvano Arieti I was impressed again and again by the fact that we are still in the groping stage of our understanding of this widespread psychiatric illness. In the introductory historical review we are reminded that Kraepelin's descriptive system is still the most widely known psychiatry in the world, in spite of the many more dynamic and less fatalistic contributions since his time. Practically every aspect of schizophrenia is yet to be convincingly explained. Controversy exists about the etiology, the dynamics, the course of the illness, prognosis and treatment, and the literature abounds with articles on schizophrenia from numerous points of view.
Dr. Arieti has attempted a truly heroic task—the presentation of a unified, comprehensive picture of schizophrenia, leaving no phase untouched. Thus, a glance at the table of contents shows six main sections: a historical review, the psychodynamics of schizophrenia, the psychological structure of schizophrenia, the longitudinal view of the various stages, the psychosomatic aspect of schizophrenia, and the treatment of schizophrenia. This work is not by any means a mere compilation of what has already been written, but a careful and creative synthesis, with many significant contributions by the author. Each section can be read and valued separately. The most original and challenging material pertains to the interpretation of the formal psychological processes of the schizophrenic. Arieti believes that the language, thought, behavior, feeling and symbolism of the schizophrenic represents not “irrationality” but a different rational system. The schizophrenic is a person who abandons the Aristotelian way of thinking and adopts a primitive type in order to escape anxiety. According to Arieti, there is a lower level of intellectual integration to which humans regress when all other attempts at alleviating anxiety have failed.
Before going into his discussion of the formal proce