Determining the true nature of negative symptoms has been a key theme of traditional psychiatric research. Before the introduction of DSM-III, the negative symptoms in schizophrenic episodes were postulated to be dysfunctions observed throughout the course of this disease. Nowadays, this terminology is understood to appear in the later phase of this illness, in the form of residual symptoms.
 At the conference of this society (JSPN) in 1985, Prof. Nozomi Suwa argued against this understanding. He claimed that the underlying cause of negative symptoms is basic dysfunction of the CNS and that they manifest throughout this illness. In this discourse, I would like to follow this understanding of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, clarify the true nature of negative symptoms, and introduce other aspects about the symptomatology of this disease, namely the difficulties of initiating motion.
 Prior to the onset of illness, patients experience difficulties in innovative thinking, such as how to deal with new situations. As an origin of these difficulties, I had found common traits in these patients, namely that they were inhibited in thinking about improper things, such as abusive or denigrating words. They are not able to express their internal aggressive drive because of this inhibition. This inability to act leads to a standstill of action and thinking, and these symptoms are traditionally called "catatonic stupor".
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