Do schizophrenics have any clue whatsoever that they're delusional?

Question:Back on the Yahoo forums, there was some guy who thought that the answer to any problem in life was to make giant cube cities / arcologies that were connected by a system of maglev trains. World hunger? Cube cities and maglevs. Existential angst? Cube cities and maglevs. Grass stains on pants? Well, you get the picture. No matter how many times fellow posters pointed out that this guy was delusional, it never seemed to sink in. His answer to the negative posts? Cube cities and maglevs, of course.

So, are there moments of lucidity when a schizo ever realizes that perhaps their thinking is just a wee bit out of touch with Reality?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Back on the Yahoo forums, there was some guy who thought that the answer to any problem in life was to make giant cube cities / arcologies that were connected by a system of maglev trains. World hunger? Cube cities and maglevs. Existential angst? Cube cities and maglevs. Grass stains on pants? Well, you get the picture. No matter how many times fellow posters pointed out that this guy was delusional, it never seemed to sink in. His answer to the negative posts? Cube cities and maglevs, of course.

So, are there moments of lucidity when a schizo ever realizes that perhaps their thinking is just a wee bit out of touch with Reality?

Many are very tortured souls that have morals, love people and want to be loved. Some are so locked in the reality of their thought and misfiring brain cells they can't associate. Some are tortured by voices in their heads telling them to do horrid things and they want them to stop but can not do it themselves. It is sad when Medicines are not enough to help or make them so sick they want to die. Like an itch you can't scratch.

There are certainly varying degrees of the disease and some are more lucid as you would say than others. If you have not seen it, check out the movie A Beautiful Mind about a real live person living in our world today and a great pictoral of his struggles. It is an excellent attention grabbing story.

yes

The answer is obviously cube cities and maglevs.

they only realize after being told so many times. like if someone repeatedly, called you fat, even if you were stick thin you would probably start to consider it. after hearing it they start to consider that they are delusional. however without the help of someone else, it is rare. they merely think that they are blacking out.

A more profound, more prominent and far-reaching question might be: Do people without horrible illnesses realize they hold false beliefs in spite of invalidating evidence? None are so deluded as those who think beliefs are all they need to know. There is much of that about, unfortunately. The consquences all THIS entails? Probably a much, much bigger issue than singling out someone with a presumed illness.

I suppose it would be hard for them to tell the things that are there from those who aren't, they both appear in their brain in the same way. For example, if you see 2 apples, would you normally think one of them is only your imagination?

No -- that's why they are schizo.
On a brighter note, yes, some may be aware of their delusions, they just can't control them. Strange, yes, but brain chemicals mixed in a certain way yield such results.

yeah most have moments or even years of being lucid. but they don't always realize that they are doing things that are crazy.

When they are having a clear day, if they do, they might think something's wrong. But when they don't, they probably think their reality is just as real as our's is. That's what their brains are capable of.