The Impasse of Anomalous Experiences in Mental Health: Maturity, Social Support and Identity as Indicators of Benign Schizotypy in a Brazilian sample

There is an impasse in mental health studies: anomalous experiences cannot be associated a priori with psychopathology, although those experiences are a risk factor for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Schizotypy, or “schizophrenia phenotype,” has been investigated within a dimensional perspective, where people with anomalous experiences fulfill the profile of positive schizotypy. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of people with positive schizotypy, regarding to character maturity (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence); absence of anhedonia and impulsivity; presence of anomalous experience in life history (how they begun and were directed), as well as religious and spiritual coping. Seven women, who presented a positive schizotypy compatible profile, were interviewed face-to-face. The semi-structured interviews were recorded and later transcribed for thematic analysis according to the proposal of Braun and Clark (2006). The final analysis was carried out by three researchers who reached a consensus for the definition of the following thematic axes: (1) religion, goals, and meaning; (2) anomalous experiences; (3) family and social relations; (4) integration, identity, and re-signification. In conclusion, the solution to the impasse in considering anomalous experiences as non-pathological or pathological may be understanding the context of these experiences in each person’s life. Thus, positive schizotypy, when associated with maturity of character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence), positive religious and spiritual coping, and social support, do not characterize a risk for mental health, configuring a form of “benign schizotypy.”