Stilo, S. A., Di Forti, M., & Murray, R. M. (2011). Environmental risk factors for schizophrenia: implications for prevention. Neuropsychiatry, 1(5), 457. https://doi.org/10.2217/npy.11.42

Miami University of Ohio

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Studies have found that apart from the genetic factors that are responsible for schizophrenia, there is also a variety of stressful events that may increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. Some of them are: 

- Prenatal Stress

- Urban vs Rural Lifestyle

- Dependency on Anti psychotic Drugs 

- Parental Separation or Loss

Role of Environmental Factors in Schizophrenia 

It has been found that people who are raised in medium-size city are 1.5 times more likely to develop schizophrenia than those who are living in the country. The earlier in life a person starts living in the city, the more greater is the risk of developing this disorder. This is also shown in the graph

- No exact conditions have been recorded but factors such as pollutants, crowded condition and stressful social interactions added to the higher rate of exposure to minor diseases can contribute to it. 
- The role of amygdala may also be responsible for this 

Environmental Factor: Stress of Living in a City 

It has been found that any infection that a mother during pregnancy is likely to affect the child and cause unwanted effects. Some of them are: 

 The child of a pregnant women who contracts influenza in the first trimester of pregnancy is 7 times more likely to develop schizophrenia.

- Correlation between late winter/early spring babies and increase in development of schizophrenia.

 - If mother and the child have incompatible blood types, it increases the risk of developing this disorder

  - If mother develops diabetes or if the baby has low birth weight, the baby is more likely to develop schizophrenia

- Even low oxygen to the baby due to birth complications can increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. 

Environmental Stress: Prenatal Stress and Maternal Infection 

There has been a controversy about whether use of anti psychotics is best way to treat schizophrenia. 
- It has been found that in the developing countries, people recovered twice as fast as those in the industrialized nations (such as US). This has given rise to the question as to why this happens when the latter are able to receive medications. 
- It has also been found that those programs who help patients wean from the drugs are more successful than those who rely mainly on medications. The latter programs also have higher rate of relapse. 
- Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to help people with schizophrenia by reducing their stress and thereby reducing the outbreaks of symptoms. Patients have reported that they feel less stressed and disturbed by the voices they hear. 

Dependency on Anti-psychotic drugs as treatment of Schizophrenia 

According to study, it has been found that death or permanent separation of one or both parents was associated with a threefold increase in the risk of developing schizophrenia. 

It has also been found that separation was also correlated to increase in psychotic-like experiences. 

Further research is being conducted to understand whether the adverse early experiences such as family conflict, abuse and neglect which accompany parental separation are responsible for this increased risk of schizophrenia or separation itself.


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