Schizophrenia – What are the Likely Causes of This Mental Disorder
Jared Wright
For the longest time, man has tried to decipher the human brain and its ailments, but due to its complex structure and operation, he has never been able to succeed completely in the task. Likewise is the case of Schizophrenia. With hundreds of years spend studying the disorder, it has also helped us to understand and treat it to a certain extent but has not helped us to construe all its causes. Several years of research and study have revealed some of the many causes of Schizophrenia.
Genetic and Environmental aspects
Genetic factors play an important role in the occurrence of Schizophrenia. Studies have proven that a person with family history of Schizophrenia is more likely to develop the mental disorder himself. Statistical figures in terms of propensity to develop Schizophrenia show propensity of people whose family members have Schizophrenia is 10% in contrast to 1% propensity of people whose family do not suffer from Schizophrenia.
However genetic factor is just an influencing factor and not a determining factor. To support this statement, 60% of Schizophrenia patients were found to have no family history of the disorder. Looking into the environmental aspect of the causes responsible for Schizophrenia, scientists have indicated that an elevated level of stress is accountable for triggering Schizophrenia, as increased stress not only causes several biochemical changes in the body but also increases the level of cortisol hormone.
Complications and insufficient care during pregnancy and delivery
Children born after complications in delivery are more likely to have Schizophrenia. Complications in delivery can lead to hypoxia in the brain of the neonatal and this can result in Schizophrenia when the child grows up. This finding was supported by animal model, epidemiological, molecular and genetic studies. Also care during pregnancy in terms of diet and stress level is an influencing factor.
Studies have shown that mothers who starve or are having malnutrition are likely to give birth to a child suffering from Schizophrenia. During a study conducted in Finland during the winter war in 1939, it was discovered that pregnant women who give birth knowing that their husbands were dead had a higher chance of delivering a child susceptible to Schizophrenia, when compare against women who discovered their husbands death after delivery.
During pregnancy, mothers who develop viral infections such as maternal genital infection are more likely to have a child who has a higher change to get Schizophrenia.
Neurological aspects
Several structural and functional changes in the brain can cause Schizophrenia. There is a malfunction in the frontal lobe which is the region of the brain that plays a vital role in making decisions. Researches have long proved that people with Schizophrenia have usually large ventricles, indicating a discrepancy in their neurons.
There are still several molecular, epidemiological, genetic and animal studies going on in several laboratories and research centers to further decipher the causes behind the mental disorder like Schizophrenia. As scientists will become successful in this mission, more therapeutic targets will be accessible to the pharmacologists and hence more advanced and precise treatments will be discovered.
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