A phenomenological qualitative study of how people diagnosed with schizophrenia experience the 'self' was undertaken with four persons diagnosed with schizophrenia. Over the course of two interviews, participants were asked about their history, subjective experience of their illness, and three theories of self in schizophrenia (self as fragmented, divided or lost) were explored.

The participants found the theory of the 'fragmented self' useful, applicable to themselves at times, but did not fully grasp this abstract concept. Most of the participants characterized their general sense of themselves as 'divided.' Two had their own interpretations of what the division entailed. All of the participants identified with the theory loss of self when they were acutely psychotic, hospitalized, or sedated with medications.

All of the participants experienced themselves as transformed by schizophrenia although one believed that this transformation was temporary. Through their subjective experiences of themselves while suffering from schizophrenia, more was learned about the notion of self rather than schizophrenia. The results of this study indicate that the difference between psychotic and non-psychotic individuals is likely one of quantity rather than quality. The examples given by the participants suggest that all persons might temporarily find themselves capable of disorganization (fragmentation), divided into true and false selves (especially the use of a false self in social situations), and loss of a recognizable, stable sense of themselves.