The Cause Of Schizophrenia

“Schizophrenia is a debilitating brain disorder characterized by a range of emotional and cognitive dysfunctions that affect thought, feelings, communication, perception, attention, behavior monitoring, mood or affect, speech, drive, and the ability to make decisions. Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit varying degrees of psychosis.(Quick Lesson)” Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population (Viewpoint). The cause of schizophrenia is not certain, but is thought to be combination of genetic predisposition, biochemical dysfunction, physiological factors, and psychosocial stress. These are listed in order from the most probable cause to the least. Genetic predisposition relates to the fact that studies have shown that if someone in the family has schizophrenia, there is a greater chance of developing schizophrenia (BOOK, pg.422). This is a huge risk factor for developing schizophrenia. The biochemical dysfunction component relates to having an excess of dopamine in the brain, causing psychosis. Physiological factors explains how abnormalities in the brain leads to impaired functioning. The psychosocial stress component suggest that having stress in everyday life and being someone of the low socioeconomic class can cause schizophrenia. This arises the downward drift hypothesis.