A two-stage phenomenological-developmental model explains how early deficits in multisensory integration disrupt the formation of the Minimal Self in the first years of life, creating a schizotaxic vulnerability that later manifests as basic self-disorders and subjective anomalies characteristic of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Self-disorders capture the experiential aspects of vulnerability to these disorders, emerge before major diagnostic symptoms, and are detectable in populations with familial risk.
Self-disorders—non-psychotic anomalous self-experiences—cluster specifically in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including familial high-risk groups. Over three decades, the concept has matured from clinical observations into a defined research domain. Self-disorders serve as a quantifiable trait phenotype for genetic liability and as a risk phenotype that precedes overt symptoms like schizotypal features and positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms. This framework offers insights into the nature of these conditions and holds promise for improving diagnostic accuracy, prognostic assessments, and intervention targets.