Physical and psychological causes of schizophrenia

According to most scientists, psychiatric problems arise when multiple factors combine, the most common ones being psychological, physical, social and environmental factors. The causes of schizophrenia that are physical and psychological are discussed hereunder:

Physical causes

Genetics: Since schizophrenia runs through families, making one more prone to the illness, researchers are trying to find out the responsible gene. The fact has been established by conducting a study of identical against un-identical twins, brought up separately, with general public.

In case of identical twins, if one develops the disease, 50% chances are the other would develop it too. Whereas, in case of un-identical twins the risk reduces to 15%. The general public has only 1% risk. This proves that though genetics is a factor, it is not the sole factor.

The neurotransmitter system, i.e. a chemically defined body’s messenger system, which is altered by schizophrenia medications, establishes that they certainly have a role to play. Studies suggest that excessive or deficit levels of serotonin or dopamine or a change in the nerve-cell receptor sensitivity could be troublesome. .

Since schizophrenic patients boast fewer blood fatty acids, (upon which the membrane structure of the membranes surrounding the neuron depends), genetic factors influencing the nerve cell metabolism and membrane structure could be problematic.

Unusual brain development: Some Studies have revealed abnormal brain structure or abnormal brain functioning in patients. However, neither is bound to be present nor are they typical to schizophrenia.

Often a small change in the number of brain cells, or distribution abnormalities, perhaps present even before the onset of the illness, could cause schizophrenia, since the patient’s show such brain cell abnormalities.

The mental disorder could also be a form of developmental disorder, caused from unnatural neuron connections, formed with the development of the fetus. The cause may go unnoticed till abnormalities strike during puberty.

Infection: Here the causes for schizophrenia include various kinds of viral infections, such as flu, poliovirus and encephalitis lethargica.

Birth complications: Here the schizophrenia cause could be pregnancy or delivery complications and abnormal growth of the baby fetus. Some factors to watch out for are:

Diabetes, bleeding, or pregnancy complications like pre-eclampsia.

Irregular growth of the fetus or developmental problems like smaller head

perimeter or reduced birth weight.

Delivery complications like asphyxia or oxygen lack, or cases of an emergency Caesarean.

Nevertheless, these factors are not as predominant as schizophrenia causes as factors like genetic disorders.

Severe head injury: Accidents or falls could be a cause of schizophrenia, though how it really affects the brain stays unknown. Perhaps such injuries in childhood could defect the make-up of the genes, prompting the disease

As against the popular belief, schizophrenia is not caused by drugs, though drugs like LSD, cannabis, or amphetamines could cause brain disturbance causing the first episode, especially if one has a family history or suffers from bad mental health.

Psychological causes

What causes schizophrenia here are primarily excessive stress, like job loss, death, or child’s birth, etc.

Social factors are important considerations too, even for those not having it in their genes. These include conditions like individual or institutional racism, poor housing, low level of employment, etc. Social isolation, caused by factors like belonging to the minority groups could also trigger the cause.