Negative Symptoms

This week in our continuing discussion of schizophrenia symptoms I will talk about Negative Symptoms. Once again taking our definition from the Mayo Clinic: 'This refers to reduced or lack of ability to function normally. For example, the person may neglect personal hygiene or appear to lack emotion (doesn't make eye contact, doesn't change facial expressions or speaks in a monotone). Also, the person may have lose interest in everyday activities, socially withdraw or lack the ability to experience pleasure.' (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/dxc-20253198) Again, the characters in Aberrant Selected are all free from these symptoms and I myself have experienced it only once. This was about twenty years ago when the voices had spent the previous night urging me to commit suicide. I had spent that night walking up and down the main street outside of Rozelle Psychiatric Hospital, near the heart of Sydney, willing myself to jump in front of a moving car or truck. When dawn came and I was still alive I decided to check into Rozelle. I was not capable of anything at this stage and spent the morning of the admission just laying on a couch listening to the voices. I was not even capable of smoking, a habit which I have almost kicked. This vegetative living was soon ended when I went back out onto the main road and fairly promptly threw myself in front of a moving milk truck. I collapsed my right lung and spent about two weeks in Royal Prince Alfred hospital, recovering.
     This suicide attempt was one of a number of my serious suicide attempts but I am glad to say that the characters in Aberrant are also not successful in their, rare, suicide attempts. I have always felt it to be cheap drama to have one's main character kill him or herself. For this reason I found the ending to Flaubert's Madame Bovary to be tedious, drawn out, and thoroughly unnecessary. In contrast, my own characters, crazy as they are, generally like living and their mental illness symptoms rather add to their life than take from it. This is simply because my own schizophrenia symptoms have tended to make my life more interesting. That being said though my reaction is very rare and should not be taken as the norm. Still, interesting as my life is, it is now even more interesting in being in a full remission. And more productive.