Kafka, paranoic doubles and the brain: hypnagogic vs. hyper-reflexive models of disrupted self in neuropsychiatric disorders and anomalous conscious states.

The paper compares two models of disrupted selfhood—hypnagogic and hyper-reflexive—drawing on Kafka's paranoic doubles to explore how self-disturbances manifest in neuropsychiatric disorders and anomalous conscious states. It argues that hypnagogic models emphasize a passive, dream-like fragmentation of the self, while hyper-reflexive models highlight an excessive, self-conscious monitoring that disrupts normal experience. The analysis suggests that both frameworks offer complementary insights into conditions such as schizophrenia, depersonalization, and other altered states, and that Kafka's literary depictions of doubles provide a rich analogy for understanding these neuropsychiatric phenomena.

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Abstract

Kafka, paranoic doubles and the brain: hypnagogic vs. hyper-reflexive models of disrupted self in neuropsychiatric disorders and anomalous conscious states.