Loss, loneliness and the desire for love: Perspectives on the social lives of people with schizophrenia

This report reviews three perspectives on the social lives of people with schizophrenia: those of clinical investigators, those of family members who have a loved one with this disorder, and those of the individual with the disability Images which capture the essence of each perspective are described with supporting evidence drawn from the clinical literature and family and first-person accounts. The image of an ''empty shell'' offered by the clinical perspective is contrasted with that of a poker player hiding his or her emotions suggested by the perspective of family members. Both of these images are then contrasted with the image of the caged panther in a poem by the poet Rilke, which captures the sense of immobility and stifled desire described ht first-person accounts, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of severe psychiatric disabilities.