Schizoaffective Disorder: Why the “Avoidance Program” Switches On

In Dr. Saulitis’s method, schizoaffective disorder is examined through a functional model of the brain. He invites us to understand the mechanism quite literally: what exactly switches on in a person when an outer situation seizes their whole state. This is not theory in general — it is about *why it happens*, and why grasping the mechanism already brings relief.

What exactly switches on

According to the doctor, in schizoaffective disorder an external trigger — information, a situation — launches the avoidance program. He draws on a functional model of the brain (the 3 union brain): the reactive, “monkey” part, the limbic system, switches on. This part takes power over the entire work of the brain and, accordingly, over the functioning of the whole organism.

“The external trigger switched on another mind, which took the whole organism into its power and says: that’s it, run away.”

After this the organism avoids in three ways at once: through action, through emotions, and mentally. When avoidance runs in the mental process, there is an object of fear in the head — a plot of avoidance.

Affect in two guises

The doctor stresses that affect can manifest in two ways. Either a person avoids the world — everything tenses, closes up, the “survival farce” switches on, drive away from everything. Or a person blossoms, like a living flower, and reaches toward life. This is the choice between the avoidance program and the “life-affirming” effect.

Why these experiences are “not you”

The method builds a sequence of recognition. First a person understands: my body is mine, but I am not the body; my thoughts are mine, but I am not the thoughts. Then comes the next step: mood, emotions, bodily sensations, malaise, fatigue, muscle tension — these are also not you.

“I am not me and the house is not mine — father, the body is mine, and I am not the body; the thoughts are mine, I am not the thoughts.”

The doctor calls these bodily experiences “hallucinations” — not in the clinical sense, but so it becomes clear: the experiences of the body and the emotions can also be recognized as switched on from outside, as having come from outside.

Where they come from

The central idea of the method: these emotions and states have no connection to reality. According to the doctor, they came by inheritance — from all the ill people the person was in contact with. That is why the link between an external event and one’s own mood can be cut.

“I can calmly cut this link between events and my mood — and my balloon went up.”

The doctor describes how reactive depression can get “stuck” at the body level: you seem to function, but in a different environment it instantly becomes easy, and once back — it switches on again. This is the “stuck button” at the body level.

Practice

The doctor suggests going “layer by layer, like a matryoshka or an onion”:

1. First remove the thoughts. Recognize the “thought-spins” as not-you. Emptiness remains — but no joy yet.
2. Move on to emotions and mood. Notice tension in the head, low mood, a surge of fear or numbness.
3. Recognize: this is not you. Tell yourself “stop” and send it to the same place as the thoughts — “off to the far village.”
4. See the source. This is the avoidance program switched on at the level of basic affect, and the experiences themselves came from outside and are unconnected to reality.
5. Cut the link. Between the event and your manifestation. Then mood stops depending on external triggers.

The doctor reminds us: you must not spend energy on the illness — by your avoidance you only make matters worse. And in your best state you can better help both the matter at hand and those close to you.