“Need, Greed & Ignorance is the spellbinding psychological thriller that peers into one man’s fragile mental state as it unravels into utter chaos.  It casts an eye on the conditions of schizophrenia and provides a rare insight into the mind of an individual who endures this frequently misunderstood condition”.

This is a quote from the marketing essentials but what is this novel?

Well, it’s a whodunit style thriller but it differs in that it is not plot driven, nor is it intended to be.  Rather it is character driven, based on a man who suffers from what  experts these days would term “mental health issues” – often described as being a “disorder”,  and/or “an illness”.

It’s difficult for a person who doesn’t have this “disorder” to understand what it like to suffer from schizophrenia/be schizophrenic. The media tends to portray these sufferers as axe murderers of psychos but haven’t you heard?

“Not all axe murderers are schizophrenic – and not all schizophrenics are axe murderers!”

In Sam, the main character of the book, the most basic processes of perceiving and thinking are affected – these are common themes with psychosis.  Sam is typical in that he is (and becomes) disconnected from reality (whatever real or normality is!). He experiences sadness and depression and is trapped in a terrifying and isolating situation.

What’s with the delusions?

To have a delusion is to be totally obsessed with an idea, and to have absolute certainty that the idea is correct.  Sam has absolute conviction in his beliefs.

Delusional ideas take a hold of Sam and are very powerful – so powerful that they preoccupy his thoughts, night and day. But are they really delusional – or are they fanatical?

What the reader doesn’t know is – are the crimes committed by Sam – or are they a figment of his imagination.  Is he the perpretrator or a victim?

Why does Sam have nightmares and hallucinations?

Hallucinations and delusions can go hand-in-hand. For example, hearing voices speaking to you from say the television is an hallucination. Being totally convinced that the voices are real and believing the things they tell you is delusional.

Sam is delusional for sure but are the dreams real… are they based on real and/or past experiences or are they all in his head>  We know he is far from squeaky clean – but is he hiding behind the mask of his illness to get away with things?

In the novel we read that anyone who annoys him, rejects him or threatens him comes to a sticky end.  But is this mere coincidence?

Humans usually rely on our perceptions to tell us what’s real. We’re unaware that different people experience the same situation differently, because usually those small differences aren’t often discussed.

A person with schizophrenia, however, may actually hear people saying things that are critical or insulting, when those conversations aren’t actually taking place. That would be a type of auditory hallucination.

Visual hallucinations can take many forms as well. A person with schizophrenia may find their attention drawn to one particular person’s face, notice that the teeth are very white, and then perceive the mouth and teeth growing to fill the room. This perceptual distortion would feel just like a real visual perception, and the person may believe it actually to be occurring. If they’re frightened by the perception they might try to hide their fear, or they might cry out or run away.

 The process that disrupts the normal operations of the brain also disrupts the process by which the brain monitors its own operation. . Unfortunately, a psychotic brain can’t fault find its own errors, because the fault finding tools are also malfunctioning!People experiencing disorganized speech are often aware that their thoughts and words aren’t saying the words they mean to and will become frustrated when others don’t understand.