Lucyna Drożdżowicz

Obronna rola obrazu siebie w przebiegu schizofrenii             57

The defensive role of the self-image in schizophrenia             57

Summary

The paper presents some findings of a prospective study on the self-image of patients ill with schizophrenia. The observation of the changes in a self-portrait of patients through 7 years from the time of the first admission to hospital showed that self-image is not only a dynamic and changing-with-time structure but it plays the defensive roles against awareness of being mentally ill and feelings which are aroused with this fact. The stronger the patient's tendency to deny the illness at the beginning, the more pessimistic the self-picture they have after the 7-year period. And reversely, the acceptance of the illness and weak tendency to be defensive results in greater self-satisfaction and optimism in later life.