4 ms·

I've heard schizophrenia can be triggered by prolonged stress, e.g. a stressful work environment. (This presupposes you have susceptible genes.) There seems t

I've heard schizophrenia can be triggered by prolonged stress, e.g. a stressful work environment. (This presupposes you have susceptible genes.) There seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting this. Do you know whether it's backed up by any research? Or more generally, does anyone know of any (successful) research about whether schizophrenia can be avoided by avoiding whatever triggers it? Or are you doomed if you have the wrong genes?

phren0logy 13y ago
What you are describing is the "Stress-Diathesis Model." The rough explanation is that many people have vulnerabilities for mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and others), and that the vulnerability is triggered by environmental stressors. It is in some ways similar to the "two-hit hypothesis" for cancer. A search for "Stress-Diathesis Model" will yield a lot of hits in the academic literature. It's well accepted as at least part of the explanation for why some people with a genetic vulnerability develop symptoms and others do not.
- sillysaurus3 13y ago
  Thank you for your insight, and for referring me to the proper literature on the subject. It's very much appreciated.
- wisty 13y ago
  Amateur here ... don't a lot of people have schizophrenic symptoms (voices), but as long as they are positive or the person can ignore them it's usually just ignored? Like, some people might have "imaginary friends" who they chat to about the weather, quietly. Other people have "imaginary friends" who they have screaming arguments with. In some cases, could stress either make the delusions / voices less benevolent, or send people into a cycle in which they are no longer able to manage them?
  - sillysaurus3 13y ago
    some people might have "imaginary friends" who they chat to about the weather, quietly. Other people have "imaginary friends" who they have screaming arguments with. That's very interesting. I hadn't heard of that before. I wonder if it'd be possible to conduct an anonymous survey as to whether people have imaginary friends that they routinely chat with or get into screaming arguments with? I wish such a survey could be trusted, but it'd probably attract troll results.
    - beagle3 13y ago
      You might find "the origin of consciousness in te breakdown of the bicameral mind" interesting. It references studies as such. It's from 1975, and either a stroke of genius or complete crackpot. But it is interesting, well argued, and potentially mind blowing. I have no idea if anyone studied voices among normal people since this book was published.
      - faster 13y ago
        Julian Jaynes' book was required reading in my geeky circle of friends, and the root of many "voices of the gods" jokes. Good for endless drunken campfire discussions. Basically, he said that before we developed language, the voices of the gods ('imaginary friends', 'voices in our heads') told us what to do when instinct didn't. The development of language pushed out the voices of the gods. I don't remember much more than that. I heard that he had retracted the whole thing, but can't find any evidence of that retraction.
        beagle3 13y ago
        My understanding is that it's not "before we developed language" - but rather, before we developed modern culture, which silences these voices ("imaginary friends") during upbringing. However, Jaynes argues that various conditions (schizophrenia, non-schizo "voices") are a non-silences version of that natural tendency, albeit often harmful - the revenge of the forgotten imaginary friends, if you will.
  - 13y ago
- kafkaesque 13y ago
  My mother developed schizophrenia after a nervous breakdown. In my family circle, it is colloquially said she 'got it' from stress, because her parents constantly argued and built a stressful environment for her. As her child, I was always scared of developing it, because there were times when I definitely had scary symptoms. I learnt about various hypothesised causes or things that could 'bring it about', so I never did drugs and practised ways to keep myself calm (I used to be extremely nervous, had sweaty hands and feet, etc.). Now that I'm 31, I think I've done pretty well. Even with medication, my mom cannot really identify who I am, though. I guess I just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge about schizophrenia.
threatofrain 13y ago
You are not doomed if you have the wrong genes, but from what little I know it does seem like an environmental stress explanation is rather appealing for addressing why mean schizophrenic onset occurs later for those in highly structured environments, such as the armed forces.

phren0logy 13y ago

What you are describing is the "Stress-Diathesis Model." The rough explanation is that many people have vulnerabilities for mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and others), and that the vulnerability is triggered by environmental stressors. It is in some ways similar to the "two-hit hypothesis" for cancer. A search for "Stress-Diathesis Model" will yield a lot of hits in the academic literature. It's well accepted as at least part of the explanation for why some people with a genetic vulnerability develop symptoms and others do not.

sillysaurus3 13y ago
Thank you for your insight, and for referring me to the proper literature on the subject. It's very much appreciated.
wisty 13y ago
Amateur here ... don't a lot of people have schizophrenic symptoms (voices), but as long as they are positive or the person can ignore them it's usually just ignored? Like, some people might have "imaginary friends" who they chat to about the weather, quietly. Other people have "imaginary friends" who they have screaming arguments with. In some cases, could stress either make the delusions / voices less benevolent, or send people into a cycle in which they are no longer able to manage them?
- sillysaurus3 13y ago
  some people might have "imaginary friends" who they chat to about the weather, quietly. Other people have "imaginary friends" who they have screaming arguments with. That's very interesting. I hadn't heard of that before. I wonder if it'd be possible to conduct an anonymous survey as to whether people have imaginary friends that they routinely chat with or get into screaming arguments with? I wish such a survey could be trusted, but it'd probably attract troll results.
  - beagle3 13y ago
    You might find "the origin of consciousness in te breakdown of the bicameral mind" interesting. It references studies as such. It's from 1975, and either a stroke of genius or complete crackpot. But it is interesting, well argued, and potentially mind blowing. I have no idea if anyone studied voices among normal people since this book was published.
    - faster 13y ago
      Julian Jaynes' book was required reading in my geeky circle of friends, and the root of many "voices of the gods" jokes. Good for endless drunken campfire discussions. Basically, he said that before we developed language, the voices of the gods ('imaginary friends', 'voices in our heads') told us what to do when instinct didn't. The development of language pushed out the voices of the gods. I don't remember much more than that. I heard that he had retracted the whole thing, but can't find any evidence of that retraction.
      - beagle3 13y ago
        My understanding is that it's not "before we developed language" - but rather, before we developed modern culture, which silences these voices ("imaginary friends") during upbringing. However, Jaynes argues that various conditions (schizophrenia, non-schizo "voices") are a non-silences version of that natural tendency, albeit often harmful - the revenge of the forgotten imaginary friends, if you will.
- 13y ago
kafkaesque 13y ago
My mother developed schizophrenia after a nervous breakdown. In my family circle, it is colloquially said she 'got it' from stress, because her parents constantly argued and built a stressful environment for her. As her child, I was always scared of developing it, because there were times when I definitely had scary symptoms. I learnt about various hypothesised causes or things that could 'bring it about', so I never did drugs and practised ways to keep myself calm (I used to be extremely nervous, had sweaty hands and feet, etc.). Now that I'm 31, I think I've done pretty well. Even with medication, my mom cannot really identify who I am, though. I guess I just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge about schizophrenia.

threatofrain 13y ago

You are not doomed if you have the wrong genes, but from what little I know it does seem like an environmental stress explanation is rather appealing for addressing why mean schizophrenic onset occurs later for those in highly structured environments, such as the armed forces.