You may be schizophrenic if you can tickle yourself, although just being able to tickle yourself does not always mean that you are indeed schizophrenic.
Some people that are schizophrenic can tickle themselves due to the differences in how their brain processes the self generated movements, although the ability to tickle yourself is also present in some people that don't have schizophrenia, and most particularly in people with high levels of schizotypal traits.
Being able to tickle yourself is very rare as most people cannot tickle themselves.
Only around 2 percent of the world can tickle themselves.
If you tickle yourself nothing will happen in most cases, because your brain knows to expect the tickle and so it doesn't allow you to feel the tickle when you've done so yourself and the cerebellum cancels out the tickling sensation as the cerebellum distinguishes between external touch such as when someone else tickles you and the self generated touch is prevented when tickling yourself.
Basically when you move your own hand to tickle yourself, your cerebellum anticipates the touch of the tickle and the resulting sensation.
The part of the brain that does not allow you to tickle yourself is your cerebellum.
The cerebellum is located at the back of your brain and is the primary brain region which is responsible for preventing you from tickling yourself.
The cerebellum monitors your movements and predicts any sensory consequences of your actions.
And by doing so it cancels out the tickle sensation when you initiate the tickle yourself.
Your brain knows to expect the tickle and so it doesn't allow you to feel the tickle when you've done so yourself.
Basically when you move your own hand to tickle yourself, your cerebellum anticipates the touch of the tickle and the resulting sensation.
The prediction of the tickle allows your brain to suppress the tickle response which makes the tickle sensation less intense or even absence.
Your cerebellum distinguishes between external touch such as when someone else tickles you and the self generated touch is prevented when tickling yourself.
Also the somatosensory cortex that processes touch and other sensory information, is also involved in the tickle response although it's activity is reduced when the cerebellum predicts a touch that is self generated.
The ticklishness is also influenced by factors such as context and mood, with situations of fear or anxiety being able to suppressing the tickle response.