Is schizophrenia hereditary

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder. It features a disintegration of the process of thinking and changes in emotional responsiveness. The disorder commonly leads to auditory hallucinations and paranoid or even bizarre delusions. The patient's speech and thinking are disorganized and are commonly accompanied by social or occupational malfunction.

The symptoms of schizophrenia typically occur during young adulthood. Once they develop they remain for the rest of the patient's life although they can be controlled by medications.

Is Schizophrenia Hereditary?

Different studies have shown that the causes of schizophrenia are actually hereditary. If there have been cases of schizophrenia in the family a person is at a higher risk to develop a disorder as well. The estimated percentage of the risk is 10%.

Apart from a predisposition to the disorder, the illness generally develops due to some sort of trigger factor. Stress is a major contributor to the disease. If it lasts long enough it can successfully precipitate schizophrenia. Furthermore, some drugs such as marijuana as well as chronic alcohol abuse can initiate symptoms of schizophrenia. Even brain injury can be a trigger of this grave disorder.

It is believed that a link between biological and psychological conditions is responsible for the onset of many mental disorders, including schizophrenia. According to all the previously mentioned we can conclude that schizophrenia is not solely hereditary and that hereditary factors only make a person predisposed to schizophrenia but this does not mean a person will actual develop a disorder.

Presentation of Schizophrenia

Patients suffering from schizophrenia lose their touch with reality and live in a delusional world. The symptoms of this disorder may vary a lot but all of them are simply classified into hallucinations and delusions.

Hallucinations of sight, smell, sound or touch are common for schizophrenia. The patients may believe that they hear voices guiding them to behave in a particular way. Delusions may include a belief that a person is being chased, under risk to be attacked or hurt. Delusions of grandeur are characteristic of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Hallucinations and delusions are what drive patients to behave in a different manner from the rest of the people.