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Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with causes that include both genetic and environmental factors

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Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with causes that include both genetic and environmental factors. Current research focuses primarily on neurochemistry, neuropsychology, and genetics, with less attention given to psychosocial aspects.

Genetic Factors:

  • ADHD is considered a genetically predisposed condition that can lead to various mental health issues. A study with over 60,000 patients found that the same genetic constellations appear in schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, severe depression, and ADHD.
  • ADHD, with a 30% genetic determination, is regarded as an inherited susceptibility to other mental disorders.
  • Individuals with ADHD have an increased sensitivity to emotions within their families and react impulsively to parental stress.

Environmental Factors:

  • Stressful family environments play a central role in the development of schizophrenia, often in the form of emotional burdens accumulated over generations.
  • Children with ADHD are particularly sensitive to emotional tensions in their family environment.
  • Chronic conflicts between parents and disturbed separation processes can lead to an escalation of emotions.
  • Stressful communication styles, such as impatience, an urging tone, rapid communication flow, an irritated undertone, as well as associative, unclear, and indirect communication, can contribute to the development of schizophrenia.
  • Double-bind communication, where contradictory messages are conveyed simultaneously on different levels, can also be harmful.
  • Avoidance of conflicts and the denial of individual perception to maintain family peace are further characteristics of family systems with schizophrenia.
  • Discrepancies between paternal and maternal parenting styles can lead to divided loyalty in children.
  • Traumatic experiences and stress can permanently alter brain structure and function.

Other Important Aspects

  • Cannabis use can be a risk factor for psychosis, particularly in adolescents. One study showed that over 90% of young adults with a first diagnosis of schizophrenia were regular cannabis users.
  • Puberty is a sensitive phase where suppressed emotions and difficulties in separation from parents can trigger schizophrenia.
  • Biographical stressors, such as unhappy love relationships, sexual issues, or conflicts in the professional environment, can also trigger a psychotic episode.
  • The role of the family: Schizophrenia can be interpreted as an expression of disturbed family dynamics, where the affected family member often takes on a functional role and reveals unresolved conflicts. The illness often serves to keep the family together, and the affected person may become a mediator or „diplomat“ within the family.

Ursula Davatz’s Hypothesis

Ursula Davatz’s model suggests that schizophrenia is a multi-stage process that occurs in individuals with ADHD and is influenced by interaction with the family context. She emphasizes the role of „emotional monster waves“ that build up over generations in families and can trigger psychosis in sensitive individuals during puberty.

The author concludes that schizophrenia is not only a disease of an individual but also the result of a failure in the emotional process within a family system.