Discussions

Silvano Arieti, M.D., New York: Dr. Siirala's presentation deserves our sustained attention and careful consideration by virtue of its seriousness, the richness and difficulty of its content and the controversial nature of its main theme.

Seldom have I heard or read a paper with such wide horizons and deep implications. I must add, however, that although I respect and admire the extension of the views expressed and the author's inspirational excursions into the human spirit, I must regretfully acknowledge that I disagree with his main theme.

Dr. Siirala sees schizophrenia as a reflection of a universal human situation. It is not really the patient who is sick—humanity is sick. Humanity has been sick for thousands and thousands of years and the schizophrenic is the depositary of this collective illness. On one side Dr. Siirala seems to be under the influence of existentialist thought: on the other, he seems to be under the influence of Jung's conception that the psyche of man has inherited the past eras in the collective unconscious. I am not sure about Siirala's relation to Jung, because some of the concepts expressed in this paper are susceptible of different interpretations and I would like therefore to ask Dr. Siirala to clarify his position vis-à-vis Jung. Dr. Siirala writes that schizophrenia has a universal aspect. He sees the therapist who devotes himself mainly to schizophrenic patients, as a person who has the duty to expose to society the prophecies of these schizophrenic patients. He says these prophecies consist of insights into our collective sickness, into the murders which we have committed for many generations and which we have buried so that they will not be noticed. He feels that schizophrenia emerges out of a common sort of sickness, a sickness shared by the others, the healthy. I think that there is an element of truth in Dr. Siirala's assertions. Schizophrenia is indeed a human situation. It affects human beings and in many respects it reflects so