Schizophrenia is a precocious dementia (dementia praecox), essentially characterized by affective symptoms, which are manifested through the isolation of the schizophrenic from the real world, as a way of protecting oneself from the surrounding hostilities. Based on the perspective of Merleau Ponty, the objective of the present research is to understand the schizophrenic person by revealing his/her position towards the world and towards him/herself as well as his/her perception of the society he/she is living in. Data were collected through guided interviews with five patients from two private hospitals. A phenomenological framework, based on the hermeneutic circle, was used to analyze the data. Results showed references to their body, time, world and people related to them outlining an interlink between these references, based on the perception of those who are close or not at the moment.
schizophrenia; perception and society