4: Conflicting messages link to symptoms

• 1: Bateson et al: long term exposure to communication contradictions leads children to perceive their environment in terms of contradictory input
• 2: Children are therefore unable to discriminate between contradictory messages - they have internalised the double bind situation
• 3: Furtur suggested this leads to the manifestation of symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations as a means of escaping the contradictory demands of the double bind situation