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Anyone interested in a theory of schizophrenia that actually explains the logic behind these behavior patterns would do well to learn about Bateson's "double bi

Anyone interested in a theory of schizophrenia that actually explains the logic behind these behavior patterns would do well to learn about Bateson's "double bind" formulation. Dr. Stanislav Grof's essay "Mind, Nature and Consciousness" provides a very lucid introduction to this theory (http://www.stanislavgrof.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Gregory_Bateson.pdf http://www.stanislavgrof.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Gregory_...): "The basic idea of Gregory Bateson's theory of schizophrenia is that this disorder basically represents a breakdown of metacommunication [messages about messages, indicating how the communication should be understood, i.e. a wink to indicate that this is a joke, /s for sarcasm, etc]. Psychogenetically, this problem can than be traced to a specific disturbance in the communication between the mother and the future schizophrenic which involves what he called a "double bind.” The basic characteristics of this situation are the following: 1. The child is in a relationship of vital dependency, where it is critical to identify correctly the communication from the mother. 2. He or she is receiving from the mother messages which are contradictory, since the qualifying metacommunication denies the verbal content or is otherwise incompatible with it. 3. The child does not have the opportunity to ask questions to clarify the communication. 4. The child cannot leave the field. Under these circumstances, he or she is forced to distort his or her perception of the outer world and of the inner feelings, and is incapable to develop meta-communicational skills. Gregory's favorite example was a situation in which a mother, annoyed by a child who is active and noisy, tries to get rid of him by saying: "Darling, it is very late and you must be terribly tired; mommy will put you to bed. You know I mean well for you." The message misrepresents the truth about the matter. It says "you are tired and need to sleep" instead of "I really need some space for myself." Messages and situations of this type force the child to deny or disregard his or her inner clues and accept what the mother is saying. Metacommunication is extremely important in human communication and individuals who do not master it tend to have great interpersonal difficulties. Metacommunicationally inept persons who are incapable to read subtle signals, understand jokes, and decode hidden meanings become easily victims and scapegoats of their peers. There has been much discussion, whether this mechanism is sufficient to explain serious psychopathology encountered in schizophrenic patients. Gregory Bateson himself believed that much of schizophrenic symptomatology can be understood as a total breakdown of metacommunication."

ericb 8y ago
This theory is total bunk. It is widely considered to be discredited and a great example of fanciful psychological theory with no scientific backing. I mean, if this theory was true, you would expect to find schizophrenic families--after all, they all had the same mother. It also doesn't line up with the timing of onset at all.
- tome 8y ago
  Do you have a citation for wide discreditation? Wikipedia is more circumspect > Bateson's double bind theory was never followed up by research into whether family systems imposing systematic double binds might be a cause of schizophrenia. This complex theory has been only partly tested, and there are gaps in the current psychological and experimental evidence required to establish causation [citation?]. The current understanding of schizophrenia emphasizes the robust scientific evidence for a genetic predisposition to the disorder, with psychosocial stressors, including dysfunctional family interaction patterns, as secondary causative factors in some instances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bind#Schizophrenia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bind#Schizophrenia (Which makes me wonder: if the predisposition is genetic, why don't we have schizophrenic families? After all, they have the same genes!)
  - skohan 8y ago
    I think it's highly unlikely that there is any meaningful causal link between a particular parenting style and Schizophrenia. We currently have a very robust physiological understanding of the disorder, and the symptomatology is linked to observable structural changes in the brains of Schizophrenic individuals. As with many psychological disorders, there appears to be a stress component: i.e. individuals may be more or less predisposed to the disorder, and therefore some individuals will only ever experience symptoms if triggered by a high level of stress, while for others it's unavoidable. So in some cases, yes it's possible that a problematic family life was the stressor that pushed them over the edge to develop full-blown Schizophrenia, but that person might have equally been effected by being mugged at gunpoint, or going through prolonged sleep deprivation during basic training in the military. The causal mechanism is almost certainly an interaction with Cortisol or other stress hormones, or some other well understood biological pathway. It's outdated pseudoscience at this point to take seriously the idea that Schizophrenia is the result of mixed messages during childhood.

ericb 8y ago

This theory is total bunk. It is widely considered to be discredited and a great example of fanciful psychological theory with no scientific backing. I mean, if this theory was true, you would expect to find schizophrenic families--after all, they all had the same mother. It also doesn't line up with the timing of onset at all.

tome 8y ago
Do you have a citation for wide discreditation? Wikipedia is more circumspect > Bateson's double bind theory was never followed up by research into whether family systems imposing systematic double binds might be a cause of schizophrenia. This complex theory has been only partly tested, and there are gaps in the current psychological and experimental evidence required to establish causation [citation?]. The current understanding of schizophrenia emphasizes the robust scientific evidence for a genetic predisposition to the disorder, with psychosocial stressors, including dysfunctional family interaction patterns, as secondary causative factors in some instances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bind#Schizophrenia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bind#Schizophrenia (Which makes me wonder: if the predisposition is genetic, why don't we have schizophrenic families? After all, they have the same genes!)
- skohan 8y ago
  I think it's highly unlikely that there is any meaningful causal link between a particular parenting style and Schizophrenia. We currently have a very robust physiological understanding of the disorder, and the symptomatology is linked to observable structural changes in the brains of Schizophrenic individuals. As with many psychological disorders, there appears to be a stress component: i.e. individuals may be more or less predisposed to the disorder, and therefore some individuals will only ever experience symptoms if triggered by a high level of stress, while for others it's unavoidable. So in some cases, yes it's possible that a problematic family life was the stressor that pushed them over the edge to develop full-blown Schizophrenia, but that person might have equally been effected by being mugged at gunpoint, or going through prolonged sleep deprivation during basic training in the military. The causal mechanism is almost certainly an interaction with Cortisol or other stress hormones, or some other well understood biological pathway. It's outdated pseudoscience at this point to take seriously the idea that Schizophrenia is the result of mixed messages during childhood.