shock_the_monkey wrote: i like the idea that in some way it's how the mind deals with certain aspects of trauma but i suspect that's too psychologically based. my guess is that schizophrenia is actually more psychiatric than psychological.
Studies have shown that people who go through childhood trauma, especially neglect and abuse from a parent figure, are diagnosed with schizophrenia and / or major depressive disorder more often than people who have not gone through the same experiences. This isn't to say "childhood abuse will make someone develop schizoid tendencies" but there is some link.
It's an easy theory, too. Children who go through abuse become hyper-alert and develop ways of removing themselves from the moment. They may internalize the trauma ("I'm a terrible person", "I'm not human") or project it outward ("the world is out to get me", "everyone hates me"). Abusers are not abusive all the time, especially in situations of child abuse, so the child experiences difficulty reconciling their abuser with their parent when the parent is being kind or loving. They may experience the same split in themselves -- a different 'self' for anger, a different 'self' for misbehavior, a different 'self' for sexuality.
This is all conjecture. I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. But I do see how the theory holds water. The truth is, there have been many studies to discover the definitive cause of schizophrenia, and as yet it has not been pinned down. There are common factors -- like abusive childhoods -- but they don't apply to ALL schizophrenics, which complicates matters. There are differences in MRI results between people diagnosed with depression, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia. As for how those differences originate and where they come from -- and whether or not they can be 'repaired' or stopped before they develop -- are still mysteries, as far as I know.