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HelenofReddit t1_isuo4tl wrote

Reply to comment by TheArcticFox444 in Severe COVID-19 may increase the risk for schizophrenia by chrisdh79

It's both. There are loads of different factors that determine whether someone will develop schizophrenia. Many studies show that a genetic liability to the disease combined with being in a stressful environment (think neglect, severe trauma, drug abuse, etc.) can lead it to manifest. They call it a "gene by environment" interaction, or "epigenetic" effects. Here's an article from the NHS that breaks it down.

To be clear though, I don't think there's evidence that schizophrenia the disorder can develop if you don't have any genetic risk factors whatsoever (though there are so many likely working together that it's truly hard to know if you do or not). I also think it's possible to develop schizophrenia with the genes alone and without any obvious environmental factors. As someone pointed out below, there appears to be scientific consensus that non-genetic factors are necessary for schizophrenia to develop.

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TheArcticFox444 t1_isuoprv wrote

A few decades ago, "schizophenia" was a sort of catch-all "diagnosis" when nothing else seemed to fit.

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HelenofReddit t1_isvhum3 wrote

Yeah, and my comment oversimplifies it. Today it’s considered a spectrum of different disorders (and there’s likely even more nuance than the existing spectrum allows for).

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TheArcticFox444 t1_isvmyfk wrote

>Today it’s considered a spectrum of different disorders (and there’s likely even more nuance than the existing spectrum allows for).

Not really a fan of psychology...just interested in behavior. Acknowledge that personality and emotions certainly play a role in behavior. Use the analogy of spice vs food. Spice provides flavor, for good or bad.

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scarlet-rr t1_isvp805 wrote

So mental illness is just "personality and emotions?"

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Pintash t1_isvvxdn wrote

You could maybe say this if you accept that: A) personality and emotions are standard human brain function and B) extreme and atypical examples of A) generally stem from genetic predisposition, hormone imbalance or underdevelopment of the certain cognitive functions due to environment (past or present).

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TheArcticFox444 t1_iswluzp wrote

>So mental illness is just "personality and emotions?"

Didn't say that. "Behavior," taken as a whole--from simple to complex life--paints with a really broad brush. Emotion and personality are very individualized. They count, of course, and this would be the (jurisdiction) of psychology. (Doesn't this patch belong to psychology? Don't psychologists deal with personality and emotions?

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NightlyWry t1_isv1itg wrote

My uncle and a cousin both developed schizophrenia when they hit puberty. My uncle killed himself, while my cousin tried to kill his sisters when he was 14 with a knife so has been away since...he's now 64. Their lives were very stressful. Lots of neglect and abuse by their fathers. My uncle went into the Navy and was severely hazed. After he came out of the service he wasn't the same. Lasted into his 30s. He used to see witches. My grandmother was the worst mother to him and my grandpa was a WWII vet who once told my mother while she was on her period that she could only use two pieces of toilet paper. The stress from their lives definitely pushed them into it. Also of note, they both have celiac disease which is massively inflammatory. My grand mother is in her 90s, still mean as hell, and they have her on psych meds for bipolar/schizophrenia (they're used for both). It took her until her 80s for anyone to do anything about it. It doesn't really help her behavior though.

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[deleted] t1_isw1glp wrote

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NightlyWry t1_isxfztx wrote

That’s what I’ve read too. Inflammation of the brain does some gnarly stuff.

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asterlynx t1_isxd03d wrote

>I also think it's possible to develop schizophrenia with the genes alone and without any obvious environmental factors.

Not really, it's almost a concensus among experts that this is a multifactorial disorder

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