Opinion is divided about the aetiology of schizophrenia. Firstly there are those who are concerned solely with studying schizophrenia as one of many disorders of the physical operation of the brain experienced by those with a genetic susceptibility. Secondly, there are those who view schizophrenia as a personality disorder and are concerned with personal and cognitive development and how that may have been compromised in various ways and at various stages in the life of the sufferer. Thirdly, there are those who dare to suggest that schizophrenia is not a mental illness at all, but a catch-all term for a wide spectrum of impaired thinking, extreme emotions, and bizarre behaviours, Among this group is RD Laing, who suggested forty years ago that schizophrenics may be acting normally to some kind of social or inner craziness.
There appears to be no way to heal this divide, but new research into the psychological effects on the survivor when a twin dies at birth or before may have provided an important missing piece in this puzzle. It is suggested that the symptoms that we call "schizophrenia" may be a completely normal reaction to a situation that can occur in the womb before birth - ie. the loss of a twin.
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When a twin dies before birth, the sole survivor needs help and understanding. Womb twin survivors are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. This group, 1 in 10 of the population, includes survivors of a stillbirth, miscarriage, abortion and a "vanishing twin" pregnancy. It is a story of a twin bond broken by death, leaving a lonely survivor.
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