The Psychoanalytic Deficiency Theory of the Schizophrenias postulates that the symptomatology results from psychical dissolution. Its claim for credibility rests on the range of the clinical observations which it embraces – from the prodromal symptoms to the variety of courses which the schizophrenias follow. The fate of the prodromal symptoms, often indistinguishable from neurotic manifestations, suggest that dissolution and not mental conflict is responsible. The deficiency theory acknowledges the part played by phantasy and conflict in creating the content of delusions. Their form can only be determined by psychical dissolution. The therapeutic approach based on the deficiency theory is to strengthen the residues of the patient's healthy mental life within the context of the psychiatrist-patient and nurse-patient relationship in order to encourage insight into the falsifications and misinterpretations of reality which have contributed to the symptoms.
