The author bases the thesis of this paper on Freud's concept that many of the symptoms of a schizophrenic psychosis represent an effort toward self-cure, while the process of the illness, unobtrusive in most cases, eludes observation. In agreement with some French and German psychiatrists, Bak considers the essential schizophrenic process as a regression into the archaic family unit and a dissolution of the ego, which may be experienced as an overflowing of the personality into the outer world. In the battle against this dissolution of personality the symptoms of mannerism and delusion of grandeur represent reintegrative efforts. The mannerisms emphasize the patient's wish to be different from others; the delusions of grandeur, more markedly still, enhance the patient's personality and set him apart from the masses. In prepsychotic or schizoid