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To this day, there is no totally verified answer as to why people "get" schizophrenia.
Some people claim that the mother has a certain infection or virus during pregnancy. Some claim that chemicals, such as epinephrine in the body have certain effects on children that cause them to get schizophrenia. Still others say that it has to do with the frontal cortex and development of that area of the brain, especially in adolescence. Last but not least some researchers suggest that psycho-social factors such as childhood trauma may cause someone to develop schizophrenia. Now, because we are seeing more late-onset schizophrenia with patients in their fifties, our thinking is complicated because people now question why it's onset is so late in some people but not in others.
Really, the totally factual answer has to be, "We don't know."
Schizophrenia is not a mystery:
Schizophrenia is not a mystery. It looks mysterious because our very concept of mind and mental disorders is wrong.
Understanding the mind:
We know that god is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. However, looking god from this angle makes god look very mysterious. Hinduism says that to understand god one has to believe that 'I am the supreme god'.
For similar reasons, to understand mind we have to believe that mind has as real an existence as the body.
The material mind is nothing but the Isometric component of our skeletal muscular system. This component has properties exactly the same as that of the mind.
We can understand the mind easily by knowing the properties of the Isometric component of our skeletal muscular system.
However, people who want to keep god an eternal mystery want to believe that god is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. Similarly people who want to keep mind an eternal mystery wish to believe that it is abstract and yet want to study it scientifically! No doubt, mind remains an eternal mystery.
Understanding mental disorders:
We believe that the mind is the same as the brain. This concept can't explain how people who don't even know that they have a brain can control their mind.
We can't understand mental disorders by studying the brain.
Most of the so called mental disorders are actually disorders of movement i.e. they are behavior disorders. Thus, they are better understood by studying the Isometric component of our skeletal muscular system.
The mystery behind Schizophrenia:
We believe that we are created to use reasoning. However, human thinking is very complicated. It is three dimensional. Time, space and person are the three dimensions that we use for thinking. The person - dimension leads to seven different kinds of thinking.
Since we want to understand the behavior of people using reasoning only, the behavior of some people looks mysterious even to scientists who are studying mental disorders.
Therefore, Schizophrenia is not as mysterious as most people want to believe. It looks mysterious because we want to understand it using reasoning only, which is a next to impossible.
Schizophrenia is form of mental illness which has many causes, spreading from Biology, genetics, neurology, viral infection and social influence. There is no absolute explanation for why people get Schizophrenia, or why only certain people get it. Psychologists have theorised many different contributing factors which do seem to be viable, some more than others. But in the end, a complete list of factors may be impossible to obtain as our world has an infinite amount of factors, and our mind and body has an infinite different ways in which to react to them.
Some of the factors which have been positively correlated to Schizophrenia are:
- Reduced brain stem size when compared to those without the condition
- Neurological disorder
- Brain damage
- Genetic inheritance
- Childhood trauma
- Adult trauma
- Drug abuse
- Environmental factors (such as Socio-Economic Status, living conditions and the behaviours and personalities of others around you)
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During which phase of life is schizophrenia most likely to occur?
In men, most cases of schizophrenia happen during the mid to late teens. In women, most cases happen in the mid twenties.
Is schizophrenia a dominant trait?
No, it doesn't necessarily occur just because it's present in the family. There are more factors involved in schizophrenia than a specific gene. Other mental/emotional symptoms may exist in the family because of the presence of a genetic type but full blown schizophrenia is unlikely.
Can you get schizophrenia without a relative with schizophrenia?
No. Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families. The illness occurs in 1 percent of the general population, but it occurs in 10 percent of people who have a first-degree relative with the disorder, such as a parent, brother, or sister. People who have second-degree relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousins) with the disease also develop schizophrenia more often than the general population. The risk is highest for an identical twin of a person with schizophrenia. He or she has a 40 to 65 percent chance of developing the disorder.
Why most of schizophrenia case occurring in August every year?
It is not true that the most cases of schizophrenia occur in August every year. Certain events may occur at the end of the summer in certain areas of the world that tend to trigger psychotic episodes for people in those areas. But this is not a general pattern throughout the world.
Schizophrenia is thought to occur when a person has overactivity within this particular neurotransmitter system?
Dopamine is most involved in schizophrenia.
What is childhood schizophrenia?
Typically characterized by delusions, paranoia, and auditory and/or visual hallucinations, not to be confused with autism. Difficult to diagnose because of a child's imagination, and differentiated from schizophrenia- which has an early adult-hood onset. May also have a separate etiology as psychosis in adulthood and adolescence. See the DSM-IV for more info.
If a 30 year old has schizophrenia could the mother have it as well?
Yes. Schizophrenia is partly genetic, meaning that if you have a relative with schizophrenia you are likely to also have schizophrenia. About 1/10 of people with a relative with schizophrenia develop schizophrenia, compared to 1/100 people without a relative with schizophrenia.
Is schizophrenia a disability?
People with schizophrenia usually have normal cognitive function at the beginning of the course of schizophrenia.
What are the causes of residual schizophrenia?
Residual schizophrenia is caused by a partial recovery from schizophrenia. For an explanation of what causes schizophrenia, please see the related question.
How are age and gender linked to schizophrenia?
Teenagers and young adults are most likely to get schizophrenia. Women with schizophrenia are more likely to have less severe schizophrenia and have paranoid schizophrenia, as well as developing schizophrenia at an average age of 25; men have a more severe course, with higher rates of disorganized and catatonic schizophrenia as well as developing schizophrenia at the average age of 18.
What age does Schizophrenia usually develop?
Schizophrenia typically first appears in early adulthood, typically between the ages of 16 and 30. However, it can also occur in children and older adults.
What is schizophrenia related to?
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder
