Four Theories Of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder revolves the way a person would think, act and the way they would see the world. They usually have a different view of the truth and this is frequently loss of contact with what going on. People that have the disorder could hear or see things that don’t exist and even speak strange, believe that others are trying to harm them, or sense they’re being watched. The biological explanation for schizophrenia, through biological faults, for instance viral infections and brain abnormalities Genetic Factors Certain psychologists predict schizophrenia can be passed down generations however this implies some people inherit the disorder from their parents. Identical twins have a higher risk of schizophrenia, meaning one of the twins can have the disorder and is a greater chance is they’re identical rather than non-identical. During my research I found that ‘Gottesman’ (1991) reviewed 40 studies and established ‘monozygotic twins have a concordance rate of 48%’, whereas dizygotic twins have a concordance rate of 17%. This demonstrates the correlation between genetics and the risk of developing schizophrenia. However if there was no genetic element there would be no difference of risk from first relatives. Yet there is 1% possibility of someone at random picked. Adopted studies is way more real way of splitting out the effects of environmental and genetic factors- adopted children later progress schizophrenia and care

Many doctors are not for sure what causes schizophrenia but they have many ideas about what causes it.

The cognitive explanation acknowledges the role of biological factors in schizophrenia, suggesting that the basis of the condition is abnormal brain activity producing visual and auditory hallucinations. Further features of the disorder emerge as people try to make sense of the hallucinations.

The biological explanation of schizophrenia also claims that the disorder can be inherited. The more common the disorder is among the biological relatives and the closer the degree of genetic relatedness increases the risk of the child developing schizophrenia. Gottesman’s research (1991) found a genetic link with schizophrenia when looking at children and their relatives. The research discovered that children with two schizophrenic parents have a concordance rate of 46% compared to children who just have one schizophrenic parent to children who have a concordance rate of 13% and siblings just 9%. The genetic theory of schizophrenia also suggests that monozygotic twins (twins who a genetically identical) should have a higher concordance rate of schizophrenia than dizygotic twins (twins who are not genetically identical) because they have a closer degree of genetic relatedness.

There are two main biological theories which explain the assumed causes of schizophrenia: Genetic and Dopamine Hypothesis.

The term ‘schizophrenia' covers a group of serious psychotic disorders characterised by a loss of contact with reality. It comes from two Greek words: schiz meaning ‘split' and phren meaning ‘mind'. DSM IV (1994) estimate that the occurrence rate of schizophrenia ranges from 0.2%-2.0% worldwide. There are two main explanations of schizophrenia: the biological explanations and the psychological explanations. In this essay I will critically consider the biological explanations. These include genetics, neurochemistry, brain structure and evolution.

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by distorted thinking, impaired emotional responses, poor interpersonal skills and a distortion of reality. It is the most common of psychotic disorders that, in most countries around the world, affects around 1 per cent of the population. In terms of explanations for the disorder, two central types of explanations arise – psychological explanations and biological explanations. Whereas psychological explanations tend to focus on cognitive, emotional and environmental factors that may cause the disorder, biological explanations tend to focus on genetic, biochemical and neuro-anatomical factors as the cause of the

The risk is even greater for those relatives who are genetically similar to the schizophrenic. This theory poses important debates however. If schizophrenia is caused by simple genetics, identical twins should both be affected by schizophrenia if one twin has been diagnosed. It is rare to find a majority of identical twins affected. Studies have found there to be a weak genetic link to schizophrenia. A recent study of high-risk children found there to be little proof of a genetic link.

Two Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia There are many biological explanations of schizophrenia. In this essay I will concentrate on the genetic explanation and biochemical explanation of the disorder. There are many studies that look in to genetics and the link to schizophrenia. This is dues to an original finding that schizophrenia runs in families and therefore suggests that genes are responsible for the disorder.

Biological, psychological, and sociocultural viewpoints have been developed in an attempt to explain schizophrenia. All three viewpoints point out various factors that may contribute to the development of the disorder.

Schizophrenia as a Biological Disorder As well as the biological approaches there are physiological, psychological and environmental explanations. New theories of schizophrenia are constantly being developed each having their own advantages and disadvantages. How do we know however, which one is correct? The biological explanation suggests that schizophrenia is produced by an unfortunate combination of genes or is due to physical problems in the brain.

(Szasz,1982, p.4, p.29) In 1900, the term schizophrenia, now used worldwide, was used to describe the condition that one out of every hundred people had. This statistic remains the same today. Through research and years of study, the world has a better understanding of schizophrenia, its forms, characteristics, symptoms, types, possible causes, and treatments, if any. ( Pierce, 1990. p.263 )

There are four kinds of schizophrenia, including paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Causes are not clear, and biological, psychological and environment factors are being investigated. It is certain that there is a genetic component. (Passer and Smith, 2004)

Schizophrenia can be passed down thru generations even though there is not a specific gene associated with the disorder. It is considered to be a combination of genes that make a person susceptible to becoming schizophrenic. This information is found mainly thought the study of twins. By having the same genes it can be viewed why genes contribute to the potential of schizophrenia. Even though genetics is a viable factor in the analysis of the cause of schizophrenia there are more supporting factors found in neurotransmitters.

1978 shields discussed 11 studies of the identical and non-identical co-twins of over 1300 schizophrenics from seven countries and then of these comparisons showed a higher concordance rate among identical twins. (A, C, Smith 1982 p.g 93) Research is still going on today to find out more about how genes and life events influence who gets schizophrenia.