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to them as different. Typical are the voices heard by schizo-
phrenics [on rare occasion, these voices take on physical
form]. The voices a schizophrenic hears give him instruc-
tions or report to him and he is incapable of distinguishing
between them and real voices.

In the emotional realm, the schizophrenic patient does
not respond appropriately to the situation he is in. A schizo-
phrenic is liable to break into laughter at a funeral, appar-
ently because of the chaos in his brain; neither is he able
to focus himself on a specific situation. In general, patients’
emotional responses – similar to their cognitive responses –
are completely out of touch with reality. They have very low
motivation to succeed and advance.

Their physical function is abnormal, sometimes enabling
them to be identified from afar; they sometimes contort
their faces or adopt unusual postures.

Schizophrenia often leads to attempted suicide [accord-
ing to some studies, in a third of cases].

Dr. Michael Bunzel, Medical Director,
ChYB”A Clinic in Maayanei Hayesh-
ua, Bnei Brak

Upon receipt of Dr. Bunzel’s medical opinion, it appears to me to
respond as follows:

Not every mentally ill person is considered a shoteh who is ex-
empt from fulfilling mitzvos. It his sefer, Eitzos Vehadrachos, the
Torah psychologist Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai Greenwald writes as
follows: “The Rambam writes (Shemoneh Perakim, 3) and Mishneh
Torah (Hilchos Dei’os, 2) that the mind can be either healthy or ill in
the same way that the body can be either healthy or ill. In one sense all
of us are mentally ill, with the exception of the perfect individual. All
the markers that are encountered in the various fields of mental illness
can be found to a limited extent in every person. All that sets [normal
and mentally ill] people apart is the degree and frequency of their
deviation from the mean that lies between the two extremes. Anxiety,

Marriage for Schizophrenics 2 215