Can Your Environment Cause Schizophrenia? |
Find a therapist to treat psychosis
Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Epigenetic processes, which feature gene-environment interactions, cause brain-alterations.
Treatment should include early intervention, CBTp, behavioral strategies, and environmental stabilization.
By Jadin Marshall, MS, and Erica D. Marshall-Lee, Ph.D., ABPP, on behalf of the Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates.
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that is characterized by disruptions in one’s thought processes, emotional range, behaviors, sensory-perceptual experiences, and adaptive functioning (Tandon et al., 2009; Patel et al., 2014).
When diagnosing schizophrenia, there is often an observable pattern around trauma and stress histories. Oftentimes, individuals with schizophrenia have histories that include chronic stress, family conflict, constant upheaval, abuse, neglect, etc. (Read et al., 2005). Often these stressful experiences occur during late adolescent and early adulthood (Patel et al., 2014). The question then becomes: how do these experiences lead to lasting changes in the brain? Some evidence suggests that Schizophrenia is considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder (Rapoport et al., 2005; Stachowiak et al., 2013; Schmitt et al., 2023). This means there is abnormal brain development during gestation or early life. Epigenetics can play a crucial role in this development.
Epigenetics is the study of how the environment and behaviors can alter gene expression without altering the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence.
Here’s a breakdown of how it works, with an epigenetic process called DNA methylation:
Inside every cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins called histones. When DNA wraps around the proteins, it results in a larger structure called chromatin. When the DNA and proteins are tightly packed, the DNA is not as accessible and therefore cannot be read, meaning the region is “turned off” (Moore et al., 2013).
Importantly, these processes are responsive to the environment. So, experiences, such as chronic stress or trauma, can lead to these chemical modifications and, in turn, shape how certain genes are expressed.
The diathesis-stress model adds to the explanation of these changes. The diathesis-stress model is a framework that proposes that someone with a biological vulnerability to schizophrenia who experiences enough stress or environmental adversity can trigger a disorder (Walker & Diforio, 1997; Pruessner et al., 2017). While the........