Schizophrenia is a mental condition that causes one to lose touch with reality, usually by seeing or hearing things that do not exist. Often times the things they see or hear are linked with experiences from their past. Because of the vividness of the voices and images that they see and hear, they may start to question the reality of everything around them, or, if oblivious to their condition, believe that everything they see and hear is real, causing them to do things out of fear or protective nature, even though there is nothing to be afraid of.
In one of my previous posts I spoke of Cain, a character in a story I've been writing. He is a schizophrenic, and it is a large contributing factor to his murderous tendencies. When he was around 12 years old, he killed for the first time. He'd been attacked by a man with a knife, and out of self defence, took the knife and stabbed the man. However, he felt this sense of enjoyment in it. Almost as though he was giving the man what he deserved. When his mother found out, she killed herself, leaving him with no family, seeing as his father gave his life to the war. When he ran away from his home and lived in the streets, out of a subconscious need for comfort, his mind created his brother. Cain's brother is a projected image of his conscience, a personified moral compass. His brother dictates who Cain is to kill. He tells Cain that a specific person does not deserve to live, Cain does his research and plots his action, and like an obedient pet, kills the person that his brother instructed him to.
Schizophrenia is common among many murderers and criminals, giving them an easy and logical reason as to why they commit their crime. A kleptomaniac might believe he's stealing for his sick mother who actually died 7 years ago. A murderer might have thought he was slaying the magic dragon. A serial killer might say that the voice in his head told him to do it. Whatever it may be, the origin of a schizophrenic's projected images is beautiful and incredibly interesting, and I would love to work with one someday.
Yours truly,
Kat. N