For a {bounded} non-negative self-adjoint operator acting in a complex, infinite-dimensional, separable Hilbert space H and possessing a dense range R we propose a new approach to characterisation of phenomenon concerning the existence of subspaces M\subset H such that M\capR=M^\perp\capR={0}. We show how the existence of such subspaces leads to various {pathological} properties of {unbounded} self-adjoint operators related to von Neumann theorems \cite{Neumann}--\cite{Neumann2}. We revise the von Neumann-Van Daele-Schm\"udgen assertions \cite{Neumann}, \cite{Daele}, \cite{schmud} to refine them. We also develop {a new systematic approach, which allows to construct for any {unbounded} densely defined symmetric/self-adjoint operator T infinitely many pairs of its closed densely defined restrictions T_k\subset T such that \dom(T^* T_{k})={0} (\Rightarrow \dom T_{k}^2={0}$) k=1,2 and \dom T_1\cap\dom T_2={0}, \dom T_1\dot+\dom T_2=\dom T.
