FEATURES OF THE MANIFEST DREAM IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Abstract

Distinctive features were found in manifest dreams from 25 schizophrenic males when compared with manifest dreams from 25 nonschizophrenic males. The application of Rapaport's indices of thought disorder on the Rorschach (fabulized combination, confabulation, and contamination) to the manifest dream revealed that these specific types of primary process constructions appear more frequently and consistently in the dreams of schizophrenics. In addition, a greater difficulty and impairment in organizing and reporting the dream around a sense of self was characteristic of schizophrenics. A higher incidence of distortions in the representation of body boundaries was not seen in the manifest dreams of schizophrenics, but tended to differentiate those subjects giving evidence of thought disorder in their dreams. The results were discussed in terms of confirming the notion that waking and dream thought processes were continuous in schizophrenia; that is, both are characterized by a fluidity and insubstantiality of conceptual boundaries and self-nonself differentiation