The use of denial in psychosis
Observation of a borderline schizophrenic and psychotic has revealed some interesting uses of denial.
Normally, nonpsychotics use denial either to tell the truth (not having done a misdeed) or to hide a lie. Denial used to hide a misdeed is often seen in children out of fear of punishment for having done a misdeed, i.e., lying to aovid punishment, and it is often used to hide a misdeed by philandering spouses.
Schizophrenics and psychotics use denial to deny their destructive behavior. Here are two actual examples:
A cell phone charger was deliberately destroyed out of jealousy. The cell phone charger was discovered broken with a key stuck in it.
The cement walkway in front of the front door of a residence as well as the cement walkway leading to the back kitchen door of the residence were smashed, leaving two big holes in the walkways. When asked about the hole in the front walkway, the person denied having done it. Subsequently a big sledgehammer was found hidden in a closet. When asked about the hole in the back walkway, the person dismissed it as the result of playing around.
Psychotics also use denial to fend off accusations of having their lies and irresponsibility exposed. The use of denial by a psychotic to deny irresponsibility is definable because being irresponsible does refer to being mentally unfit to assume responsibility and having a lack of a sense of responsibility. [Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary]
Often denial to defend against accusations of having lied and being irresponsible is accompanied by visible anger and agitation. The November 14 denial used in the first news conference after re-election to defend the US ambassador to the UN for her role in lying to the public is a typical example of the psychotic behavior of using denial to defend a perceived accusation of irresponsibility, of a dereliction of duty, and lying.
Isotonic Rehabilitation 