The findings of accompanying behaviours acted by a schizophrenic
58
Perseveration of ideas happens when a schizophrenic uses the same words, phrases, and sentences repeatedly during her speech. This condition is influenced
by the pressed delusion which makes the sufferer lose her self-control. In this case, Mary always repeats her word many times, in order to convince the others
when she gets delusion. Moreover, this phenomenon not only happens in schizophrenic people but also in normal people. In fact, in normal people,
perseveration of ideas occurs when the conversation between a speaker and a hearer cannot achieve the goal of message. The speaker may ask and tell
something to the hearer, but, in fact, there is no response which is done by the hearer. Thus, the speaker will repeat his or her word to catch the hearer’s attention
and then, the hearer gives right responses. Meanwhile, in schizophrenic people, the repetition of words, phrases, or
sentences happens because of delusions or false beliefs. The sufferers experience a wrong belief, so they will feel worried, anxious, and even nervous. This
situation is also experienced by Mary as a schizophrenic in Canvas movie. When she worries about her son, her speech becomes uncontrollable. However, as a
schizophrenic, she is not aware of this abnormality since she experiences it as her part of reality.
The findings show that Mary employs perseveration of ideas. One example of this abnormality is shown in the following datum:
Mary : Wheres my baby? with her worried face
Wheres my son? Hughh ChrisBy hugging tightly
Hi, Honey, are you ok? Are you ok, Honey? Are you ok? Are you sure?
Chris : Yeah
59
Datum no. 07SCBS5 In the example, the phenomenon of perseveration of ideas is shown by the
bold words. In this scene, Mary gets delusion which makes her worried about her son’s condition. She does not believe that her son will be safe outside. She thinks
that her son is in a danger, so she tries to save and ask him to come out from the school bus. In this case, the sentence Are you ok which is repeated three times by
Mary representing the phenomenon of perseveration of ideas. In this case, her emotion influences her uncontrolled utterances.
What is portrayed in Mary’s utterance is in line with the theories of perseveration of ideas. This phenomenon happens when a schizophrenic sufferer
uses the same words, phrases, and sentences continuously because of delusion and hallucination as the psychotic symptoms. Thus, in the datum no. 07SCBS5,
Mary has a false belief that Chris, her son, may not come home. It also troubles her utterance since she speaks uncontrollably. By repeating her speech, she tries to
show her worry. The second occurrence of perseveration of ideas occurs in the level of
word. This phenomenon is different from the previous example since Mary as a schizophrenic gets hallucination as if she sees and hears someone whispering to
her. What happened to Mary can be seen from the example below. John : Mary What are you doing? Dont do that
Dont do thatMary Mary tears the portraits and then, she throws some canvas
Mary : I dont want to lay down, I want to fight it
Thats what I want to do. I dont want to stop it. What? What? What?
Theyre listening. Theyve wired the house Argh
Datum no. 21LVS11
60
The phenomenon of perseveration of ideas is shown by the bold words. It is the repetition in the level of word. Mary repeats the word what three times since
she gets hallucination. She sees some people who come near her house and then, they wire her house. Because of the influenced of Mary’s visual hallucination, she
informs John that she will fight with some people who are trying to wire her house. Moreover, she tells John that there are some people who are listening to
her words. As a result, the repetition of her speech occurs as the result of her hallucination.
Another example of perseveration of ideas is shown by the following datum:
John : No, but wait a minute. How come you could run out of pumpkin pie, on Thanksgiving? I mean, really
Mary : Pumpkin pie Thats what you have for Thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie Not apple pie Pumpkin pie Thats what we want
My boy wants pumpkin pie Ok? Thats what weve been waiting for Weve been waiting in this restaurant, to have a nice turkey
dinner, and some stuffing, and some pumpkin pie, ok?with a louder voice, she is very angry to the seller
Weve all been sitting in here and waiting and waiting and waiting...
Datum no. 31CSS24
The datum no. 31CSS24 is also an example of perseveration of ideas which belongs to the repetition in the level of phrase. First, it is shown by the
phrase pumpkin pie. Mary repeats her speech for five times when she cannot get what she wants. In Thanksgiving Day, everyone may have a pumpkin pie.
However, on that day, Mary and her family cannot get any pumpkin pie, so she tells to the seller that she wants to have pumpkin pies. In fact, her speech is
repeated continuously. This phenomenon of perseveration of ideas happens
61
because of Mary’s delusion. She thinks that Thanksgiving Day can only be celebrated by having pumpkin pies. If there is no pumpkin pie, then Thanksgiving
Day cannot be held. In this case, Mary has a wrong belief about Thanksgiving Day, so she still forces the seller to give her a pumpkin pie. Second, this situation
is in line with the next utterances as the example of perseveration of ideas. And waiting is repeated for three times since Mary thinks that everyone is waiting for
the pumpkin pies. In this case, not all people in the cake shop want to order these type of cake. Thus, it is clear that she experiences a false belief.