Critically Consider The Contribution Of Biological And
Environmental Factors For Schizophrenia Essay, Research Paper
Critically See the Contribution of Biological and Environmental Factors for Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a common signifier of mental upset, set uping 40-50 % of psychiatric patients. Symptoms include hallucinations, psychotic beliefs and perturbation of idea. Although sick persons do endure a split in their mind- from themselves and the universe around them, schizophrenia must non be confused with multiple personality upset. It is the most serious of upsets in both ICD-10 and DSM-IV and both recognise the four different types of schizophrenic disorder.
Each school of psychological science has a theory for the aetiology of schizophrenic disorder. The two chief countries of idea to what causes the upset are biological factors and environmental factors.
The biological attack is supported by the medical theoretical account in three sectors- the biochemical influence, the familial influence and the neurodevelopment influence.
The biochemical theory proposes that schizophrenic disorder be caused by chemical instabilities in the encephalon which, in bend are caused by an surplus of the neurotransmitter- Dopastat. There is grounds to back up this claim. First, post-mortem scrutinies of schizophrenics do be given to demo high degrees of Dopastat, as found by Iverson in 1979. The job with this grounds is that the degrees of Dopastat could so be a consequence of the upset instead than a cause. The 2nd country of grounds dressed ores around the intervention of schizophrenics, drugs such as Thorazine work by adhering to dopamine receptor sites, once more the fact that there is Dopastat at that place to get down with could be a consequence, non a cause of the upset. Besides, this grounds merely tells us that Dopastat is of import for the action of anti-schizophrenic drugs, it doesn T state us that high Dopastat degrees is the exclusive cause, or even cause of the upset. The concluding piece of grounds for the Dopastat hypothesis is that drugs such as pep pills, LSD and L-dopa do increase the sum of Dopastat in the encephalon, they besides cause the user to portray schizophrenic behavior. Osmond and Smythies, 1976 who noticed the similarities between the effects of hallucinogenic drugs and schizophrenic behavior, support this. As does Murray, he found hints of the hallucinogen- DMT in schizophrenic s piss. Despite being reasonably impressive, the Dopastat hypothesis is a really reductionist statement, the Dopastat is non proven to be a direct influence to schizophrenia. Crow et al criticises the theory utilizing Kraepellin s positive and negative symptoms. He states that negative effects such as lessened societal interaction and little address are non affected by the interventions given. Merely positive symptoms- hallucinations, psychotic beliefs etc. are helped. This suggests that these are the lone symptoms that may be caused by Dopastat.
The familial theory appears to transport more weight than the other biological theories. A individual has a 1in a 100 opportunity of going schizophrenic, if one parent has schizophrenia so the opportunities addition to 1 in 5 opportunity and if both parents have had schizophrenia the likeliness farther additions to a 1 in 2 opportunity. There has been extended research on twins and acceptance surveies.
Most research has been in the medium of harmony rates between indistinguishable ( MZ ) twins and between non- indistinguishable ( DZ ) twins. The first of these trials was carried out by Kallaman in 1938, he found that MZ twins had harmony rates of 86.2 % and DZ twins had rates of 14.5 % . This makes sense as indistinguishable twins portion the same, indistinguishable cistrons. However, he has been to a great extent criticised, the experiments were carried out long earlier ICD and DSM were introduced, hence topics may non hold bee right diagnosed. There was besides no scientific manner for Kallaman to separate between MZ and DZ twins, he could hold been biased. There is besides grounds of false infirmary records and grounds that Kallaman tested twins who had non suffered any schizophrenic symptoms. There have been protagonists but there has ne’er bee harmony rates every bit high as Kallaman s. In 1966 Gottesman and Shields studied 57schizophrenics with twins in London between 1948-64. They found a rate of 48 % for MZ twins and merely 9 % for DZ twins. The latest is Fischer in 1973 in Denmark ; they found a wide harmony rate of 48 % in MZ s and 20 % in DZ s. Although rates vary, it is clear that by and large they cut down in clip, this is due to the debut of DSM-IV and ICD-10, it besides casts uncertainty on how dependable the rates in the early experiments were. Heston discovered that if an MZ twin had schizophrenic disorder at that place was a 90 % opportunity that the other twin would hold a mental upset, be it schizophrenia or non. Environmentalists argue that this is due to twins holding Thursday
vitamin E same upbringing under the same fortunes. This job has been over-ruled, as there have been surveies of twins separated at birth who still both have schizophrenic disorder.
The other type of survey to turn out the familial theory is adoption surveies. Heston has studied adopted kids born to schizophrenic female parents but raised by non-schizophrenic parents and compared them to kids raised by their biological, non-schizophrenic parents. The consequences were that 10 % of the adoptive kids suffered with schizophrenic disorder and none of the biologically raised kids suffered. Kety et Al, 1968 showed that there are many defects in an environmentalist s position of schizophrenia- In Denmark, a list was compiled of adoptive kids and whether they were or were non schizophrenic. The rate was low in both groups but of the kids that were schizophrenic- 21 % had schizophrenic, biological female parents. This suggests that schizophrenic disorder is familial. An conservationist would believe it was how the kids were brought up in their alternate households that would find whether or non they of all time suffered.
There is a batch of grounds to back up the familial theory, nevertheless it can non be proven as there is uncertainness as to which cistron it is that causes the upset. There have been discoveries but each one has been undermined in the visible radiation of new grounds.
There is besides the neurodevelopment theory, which blames encephalon harm for schizophrenic disorder and hence claims to hold grounds that schizophrenic disorder is a encephalon disease. Harrison has shown grounds of schizophrenics undergoing hard births and a impermanent deficiency of O to the encephalon. Bracha, 1991 besides suggests that it occur during the clip that the kid is in the female parent s uterus. He has grounds proposing that one MZ twin sick person is more likely to hold manus malformations than the other. The custodies are developed in the 2nd trimester of gestation and could be caused by a viral infection.
The grounds for neurodevelopment upsets is really inconclusive and in countries contradicts itself.
The other side of schizophrenic disorder is the environmentalist position, although there is small grounds to indicate to an existent trigger but there have been suggestions ;
Strole et al incrimination poorness, he found that the highest rates of schizophrenic disorder are in inner-city countries and is supported by Clark who found a positive correlativity between schizophrenic disorder and low position occupations. In this instance it could be the fact that a individual is schizophrenic which is halting them acquiring a high position occupation, non vice-versa. Clark uses a correlativity, which are frequently put down to happenstance instead than fact.
Bateson supports R.D. Laing s position that the household is to fault. He says that kids can be put into unbearable state of affairss called dual binds when they are told to make one thing, for illustration be more fond but at the same clip told to make the antonym, for illustration that they are to old to give their parents a clinch. Schizophrenia is a manner out for these people. Wynne et Al in 1977 stated that parents would sometimes decline to utilize a word that a kid had learnt and understood to be right and make full it in with another word. This, harmonizing to Wynne can be a measure towards the development of schizophrenic disorder. This is thought to be a small far-fetched. R.D.Laing says that the society in which we live is the cause of schizophrenic disorder, he gets his message across through authorship three books, utilizing experiential psychological science ( where he tries to acquire inside the head of a schizophrenic ) . The first book is called The Divided Self, Laing provinces that a schizophrenic is insecure and has frights that society will transform him/her into an zombi. In his 2nd book, Laing takes Szazs position that schizophrenic disorder doesn t exist as an entity but a tool used by head-shrinkers and such professionals to command people whom they see as different and a menace to the society because of their unnatural positions. In his 3rd book, which is seldom taken earnestly, Laing provinces the psychedelic vision of schizophrenic disorder, that sick persons are critics of our apparently huffy society and intervention for schizophrenic disorder is merely a hindrance to halt them believing such things. R.D.Laing is criticised for undervaluing the horror that schizophrenic disorder sick person s experience.
So the conflict between nature and raising continues, one side believing that a chemical instability in the encephalon or genetic sciences are to fault and the others uncertain about what really triggers the upset, it could be down to socio-economic-status, upbringing, the household, the society or life experience. There has been a batch of research and will go on to be big sums of surveies into the aetiology of the upset but what really causes it is controversial and more significantly unknown.
