Fig. 2.

a The self-world structure is tentatively advanced by suggesting 3 distinct stages that elucidate and deepen the dynamic pathological development to the final occurrence of nihilism in schizophrenia. The upper part displays an overview of the general nestedness of the 3 distinct stages. Within the pathogenesis of nihilism in schizophrenia, initially, experience is negatively affected. Second, in addition to experience, the more far-reaching epistemological layer of principal knowledge is likewise negatively affected, and finally, self-consciousness faces its approximate annihilation, as reflected by the most fundamental existential-ontological stage. b Although both self and world are tightly interwoven within phenomenology, that is, they cannot be dissociated in healthy subjects, a conceptual-explanatory separation displays their individual disruptions in all 3 stages.