Ordinarily, actions are motivated by the desire for the pleasure and satisfaction to be derived from the achievement of a goal. If the activity leading to the achievement of a goal is a pleasurable experience, the behavior of the organism is spontaneous, coordinated, and seemingly effortless. But situations arise where the attainment of a goal excludes the experience of pleasure. Action in the face of danger, such as that of a soldier on a battlefield, is motivated by considerations other than pleasure. The average schoolboy does his homework out of necessity rather than as a pleasure. Many situations require a conscious effort to mobilize the body, that is, an effort of will in which the mind commands the body to act in ways contrary to its spontaneous desires or feelings. The spontaneous desire of a soldier is to avoid the danger. He forces himself to meet the danger by the exercise of will. The schoolboy would rather play than study, but he is taught to submit to the discipline of the mind.
The world has long known the unique quality of the human will. Such expressions as “will power,” “the will to live,” and “where there's a will there's a way” give some indication of the nature of the will. The will functions as a biological shortcut mechanism of an emergency nature when all other means have failed. The will can achieve a goal which has appeared impossible. The incredible power of the human will resides in its ability to circumvent the natural desire for pleasure or safety and to accomplish the seemingly unnatural. The will acts through the ego's control over the voluntary musculature of the body. Paul used his will to pull himself together in opposition to the tendency of his body to succumb to its paralysis. Because the will can prevail against the feelings of the body, it is of crucial importance in the life of the schizoid individual.
Normally, the will occupies a secondary or accessory position in the psychic economy. Yet, the fact is that many people in our culture are forced to use their will in routine activities. How often one hears the remark, “I had to use all my will power to get to work this morning.” If this sounds like a schizoid statement, it should be realized that the conditions of work in modern culture alienate the individual from the creative process and deny him the pleasure and satisfaction of his productive effort. One works under these conditions because of compelling necessity, not desire. To regiment oneself to the mechanization and standardization of a mass production system requires an effort of will. When the will becomes the primary mechanism of action, displacing the normal motivating force of pleasure, the individual is functioning in a schizoid manner.
The schizoid individual is intensely willful. He is willful in the sense of being obstinate and defiant, but he is also willful in that every action is forced and determined. Sometimes he is successful, but more often not. Generally, each effort of will collapses into despair and hopelessness. As one of my patients remarked, “I am always turning over a new leaf, only to find that it becomes brown before I accomplish anything.” What is lacking in the schizoid structure is a reliance upon the natural and spontaneous functioning of the body. Another schizoid patient told me, “I can't understand how my body keeps working by itself. I think it will stop at any time. I'm surprised that it keeps going on. I'm always afraid that it's going to get out of control.”
THE SCHIZOID BARRICADE
Without a basis for his identity in the normal functioning of his body, the schizoid individual depends on his will to maintain the unity of his personality. To do this job the will must be constantly active. As a result, the musculature is in a continual state of contraction. The spasticity of the muscles explains the characteristic rigidity of the schizoid body, which then serves as a barricade against terror. Loss of control is a threat to the schizoid individual because it may engender a disruption of his personality, a literal falling apart of this barricade. In contrast to the schizoid, the normal individual maintains his unity and identity through the strength of his impulses and feelings. The difference in the two conditions can be contrasted diagrammatically in terms of impulse formation and muscular activity. Figure 6 shows the normal condition; Figure 7, the schizoid condition.
In the normal condition (Figure 6), the impulses that originate at the center of the body and flow to the periphery act like spokes in a wheel to maintain the fullness and integrity of the organism. The constant stream of impulses seeking pleasure through the satisfaction of needs in the external world, charges the periphery of the body, so that it is in a state of emotional readiness to respond. In the alive body the charge at the periphery is manifested in the tone and color of the skin, in the brightness of the eyes, in the spontaneity of gesture and in the relaxed state of the body musculature.
In the schizoid condition (Figure 7), impulse formation is weak and sporadic and does not reach the periphery of the body, which is therefore relatively undercharged. Since the impulses do not reach the surface of the body with sufficient strength to maintain its integrity, a contraction of the voluntary musculature occurs to hold the body together like a rigid container and to prevent the collapse threatened by the inner emptiness. The reduced charge at the periphery of the schizoid body results in an increased permeability of the surface membranes to external stimuli, which accounts for the hypersensitivity shown by most schizoid individuals. Necessarily, contact with the external environment is tenuous. Action upon the world to gain satisfaction is generally ineffective. The chronic contraction of the deep muscles is responsible for the narrowing of the body which gives it the typical asthenic appearance.
The immobilization of the body musculature in the schizoid condition has a double meaning. On one hand, it is a defense against terror and a means of maintaining some unity in the personality. On the other hand, it is a direct expression of the terror, since it represents the physical attitude of one who is frozen stiff with fear. Paul could not perceive this quality of his body because he was incapable of reacting emotionally. As long as he remained frozen, the terror would be hidden, like a skeleton in a closed closet. He had to thaw and reach out before this perception became possible. Only through the experience of the terror and its resolution into its component fears was there any hope for a significant improvement in his personality.
FIG. 6
FIG. 7
The collapse of the schizoid rigidity would plunge the individual into a schizophrenic crisis. Collapse brings about a loss of ego boundaries and the destruction of such unity and integrity as the personality has. This cannot happen to the normal individual. Once a strong contact is made with the reality of the external world, it operates to sustain the peripheral aliveness. This difference is illustrated in the reactions of these two types to excessive stress. It is an accepted concept that under sufficient stress the schizoid structure can give way, producing an acute psychotic break. In the normal individual, on the other hand, the breakdown which occurs due to insupportable stress generally takes place in the tissues and organs of the body and results in somatic illness rather than mental illness. It appears that the forces that bind mind to body are different in the two cases. One can compare these phenomena to the action of certain adhesives. Some are so strong that when a rupture is forced, it is the substance that yields and not the bonding medium. Other adhesives, such as rubber cement, permit the bonded objects to be pulled apart without the disruption of their structure.
What are the forces that unify the personality in the normal and the schizoid individual? In the normal person, body and mind are held together by the integrative function of pleasure. This refers to capacity for pleasure. Since pleasure is a principle of the body, the mind which anticipates pleasure affirms its identity with the body on the deepest level of experience. The capacity
