In this work, Dr. Arieti writes with skill and lucidity about the schizophrenic syndromes. He brings to it a great deal of experience, extensive knowledge of the literature, and an earnest attempt to provide a simple, logical, multifocal overview. In this he succeeds admirably.
The first section deals with a critical evaluation of historical concepts in the field. The psychodynamics of schizophrenia are then discussed, with emphasis on errors in child development, particularly in the areas of self-esteem and self-identity. He then goes on to the formal mechanisms in the psychological structure of schizophrenia, discussing the patients' retreat from reason, from society, and from emotions, as they regress to avoid intolerable anxiety in intra-personal relations.
He clarifies the schizophrenic thinking processes, taking away, happily, much of the awe and strangeness from schizophrenic productions. We use Aristotelian logic in our thinking. The schizophrenic uses what Arieti calls paleologic, in which identity