My piece on paranoid schizophrenia. Avery was my lovely model. The cat-thing is based on the work of the artist Louis Wain, who is believed to have developed late-onset schizophrenia. Close ups can be seen here: [link]

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifest as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

paranoid type: where delusions and hallucinations are present but thought disorder, disorganized behavior, and affective flattening are absent.