Disordered Selfhood in Schizophrenia and the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience: Accumulated Evidence and Experience.
Julie Nordgaard, Mads Gram Henriksen, Lennart Jansson, Peter Handest, Paul Møller, Andreas Rosen Rasmussen, Karl Erik Sandsten, Lars Siersbæk Nilsson, Maja Zandersen, Dan Zahavi, Josef Parnas
Psychopathology January 1, 2021 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1159/000517672 via PubMed
Summary
Disordered selfhood in schizophrenia, rediscovered around 2000, was operationalized in 2005 with the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE). This article reviews the EASE's historical background, explains the basic or minimal self-disorder using phenomenological philosophy, and describes the clinical manifestations the instrument targets. The authors share their experience using and teaching the EASE and summarize empirical evidence gathered to date. They conclude that basic self-disorder is a crucial phenotype of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, offering a path for empirical research on pathogenesis and psychotherapeutic treatment.
Study at a glance
| Design | review |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Basic self-disorder is a crucial phenotype of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, offering a potential avenue to empirical pathogenetic research and psychotherapeutic treatment. |
Abstract
Disordered selfhood in schizophrenia was rediscovered at the turn of the millennium. In 2005, Psychopathology published the psychometric instrument, the Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE). In this article, we summarize the historical background of the creation of the EASE, explicate the notion of the disorder of basic or minimal self with the help of phenomenological philosophy, and provide a brief description of clinical manifestations targeted by the EASE. We also present our personal experience using and teaching the EASE and summarize the empirical evidence obtained so far. We conclude that the basic self-disorder represents a crucial phenotype of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and that this phenotype offers a potential avenue to empirical pathogenetic research and psychotherapeutic treatment.