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This view has one advantage in that it goes toward explaining why the same general disease - schizophrenia - can vary significantly from person to person. The Vulnerability Model suggests to us that schizophrenia is caused by a combination of interacting factors including physical, psychological and environmental events that work dysfunctionally together to produce what we call "schizophrenia."
This does not mean the brains of schizophrenics are identical to those without schizophrenia, however. Some evidence persuasively points to brain development that goes wrong before a baby is ever born. During gestation, brain cells have to migrate from one central location to become the different parts of the brain. In the process, some brain cells are redundant, and the brain "prunes," or destroys them. Some researchers believe that in some people who later develop schizophrenia, brain cells group together that should not be together, resulting in a baby that is born with a dysfunctional brain from the beginning (Bower, 1996).
Research suggests that fetal development of the brain malfunctions about halfway through the pregnancy, when large numbers of neurons are traveling to the place they belong in the baby's brain. Research has found disorganized clumps of neurons both in the cerebral cortex and in other parts of the brain (Bower, 1996). Whether this problem is caused or worsened by...
For example, in a Finnish study, schizophrenia was more common in babies when their mothers had influenza during the second trimester of their pregnancies (Bower, 1996). Other researchers have noted schizophrenia occurring more commonly in people who were born prematurely (Bower, 1996), (Ratey, 2001).
Other studies show neurons that are abnormally large, and malformation of the myelin, a fatty substance that insulates neurons and allows electrical impulses to travel along neurons more efficiently and effectively (Bower, 1996).
At the same time, several twin studies point to a strong genetic component. The exact mechanism is not known, but a number of mental illnesses and neurochemical disorders appear to have genetic tendencies (Bower, 1996), (Ratey, 2001).
In identical twin studies, when one twin develops schizophrenia, the other twin develops it about 50% of the time (Bower, 1996). In some of those studies, the twin who developed schizophrenia showed damage to the brain not related to the schizophrenia (Bower, 1996). This provides strong support for the Vulnerability model, because it suggests that the twin who developed schizophrenia may have done so because of the additional brain
Other studies show neurons that are abnormally large, and malformation of the myelin, a fatty substance that insulates neurons and allows electrical impulses to travel along neurons more efficiently and effectively (Bower, 1996).
At the same time, several twin studies point to a strong genetic component. The exact mechanism is not known, but a number of mental illnesses and neurochemical disorders appear to have genetic tendencies (Bower, 1996), (Ratey, 2001).
In identical twin studies, when one twin develops schizophrenia, the other twin develops it about 50% of the time (Bower, 1996). In some of those studies, the twin who developed schizophrenia showed damage to the brain not related to the schizophrenia (Bower, 1996). This provides strong support for the Vulnerability model, because it suggests that the twin who developed schizophrenia may have done so because of the additional brain
Schizophrenia Psychosis and Lifespan D Schizophrenia and Psychosis and Lifespan Development Schizophrenia and Psychosis Matrix Disorder Major DSM-IV-TR Categories Classifications Subclassifications Schizophrenia and Psychosis Symptoms Positive (Type I): represent excesses or distortions from normal functioning Delusions Bizarre Nonbizarre Hallucinations Auditory Visual Disorganized Speech Loose Association Neologisms Clang Associations Echolalia/Echopraxia Word Salad Grossly disorganized behavior Catatonic: motoric Waxy Flexibility Negative (Type II): the absence of functioning Apathy Affective Flattening Withdrawal Anhedonia Avolition Poor Concentration Poverty of speech Alogia Schizophrenia and Psychosis Diagnostic Types Paranoid Delusions and Hallucinations Disorganized Disorganized speech Disorganized behavior Withdrawal Affective flattening Catatonic Grossly disorganized behavior Disorganized speech Catatonic Echolalia/Echopraxia Undifferentiated Active symptoms that do not fit other diagnostic types Residual No Type I symptoms but some negative symptoms Schizoaffective
Schizophrenia When people think of what it means to 'go crazy,' quite often the common image that comes to mind is that of someone with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious mental health disorder that can be physically, socially, and personally destabilizing. "Schizophrenia affects men and women equally. It occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups around the world. Symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions usually start between ages 16 and
Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder and can be characterized by any of the following symptoms: intellectual deterioration, emotional blunting, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, social isolation, delusions, and/or hallucinations (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). In the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) schizophrenia has now been divided into five subcategories (APA, 2000). These subtypes are defined based on the presence of positive symptoms (excesses, such
Schizophrenia does not really have just one single cause. It is a possibility that this disorder could be inherited but not all doctors are sure. A lot of experts suppose that schizophrenia does run in the family. Individuals that may have a close family member with the disease are more likely to advance the disorder than persons who have no kinsfolks with the disease. A lot think that might have
Much of advice to parents of schizophrenics tended to be judgmental, before the environmental and genetic factors of the illness were known: Theories blaming schizophrenogenic or emotionally withdrawn mothers are now almost totally discredited. What current research attempts to suggest is that "family and environmental stressors -- encompassing very subtle interactions common to many families -- work only in tandem with biological determinants to produce psychosis [and schizophrenia]" (McFarlane 2007).
Schizophrenia Ron Howard's 2001 film biography of the life of John Nash, A Beautiful Mind, delves into the world of a man suffering from schizophrenia. However, the film treats the disease delicately, without offering too many stereotypes or classifications of mental illness. Rather, the audience is aware that behind Nash's genius is a disturbed, albeit "beautiful" mind. Russell Crowe plays Nash, a brilliant mathematician and professor. His doctoral thesis work is