Table of contents:
- The most common risk factors for schizophrenia
- 1. Genetic
- 2. Stress
- 3. Complications of pregnancy or childbirth
- 4. Differences in brain structure
Often referred to as "crazy", schizophrenia is actually a chronic mental disorder that makes it difficult for sufferers to distinguish between reality and fantasy. This is what makes them often hallucinate and hear intangible voices so that in the end they are labeled as "crazy people". Everyone can experience this mental disorder, including children. However, there are a number of risk factors for schizophrenia that you should be aware of. Anything?
The most common risk factors for schizophrenia
The following are a number of factors that can increase the risk of schizophrenia, including:
1. Genetic
So far, the most important risk factor for schizophrenia is genetics, aka family history. In fact, however, not a single gene has been shown to directly cause schizophrenia. Scientists suspect that this is more likely due to mutations in certain genes.
Because of this, a person can develop schizophrenia even though no one in the family has or is currently suffering from schizophrenia. Vice versa, you may not have schizophrenia even though your father or mother has had it. The details are like this.
- If your sibling has schizophrenia, your chances of getting the genes inherited from them are 10 percent. This also applies if your brother or sister is a non-identical twin.
- If one of your parents, be it your father or mother, has a history of schizophrenia, then you are at a 13 percent risk of experiencing the same thing. Even worse, this can also happen even though they are only limited to adoptive parents who adopted you since childhood.
- If both of your parents have schizophrenia, then the risk of this schizophrenia can increase up to 36 percent in you.
- If you have identical twins who have schizophrenia, there is a 50 percent chance that you will have the mental disorder.
2. Stress
Although it does not directly increase the risk of schizophrenia, people who experience prolonged stress can experience acute mental disorders. This generally occurs in people who have experienced childhood trauma, so that the hallucinatory effects will carry over to adulthood and interfere with their mental health.
Most people with schizophrenia experience trauma because their childhood life was full of violence abusive. They often do not get the support to get out of their problems, which can lead to them becoming stressed and stressful over time. As a result, the risk of schizophrenia tends to be difficult to avoid.
Even so, not a few people with schizophrenia come from a harmonious and supportive home life. So, it is inaccurate to say that violent home conditions definitely increase the risk factors for schizophrenia.
The thing to remember, the higher a person's stress level, the higher the risk of a person experiencing mental disorders, including schizophrenia.
3. Complications of pregnancy or childbirth
Quoted from Verywell, pregnant women who experience nutritional deficiencies (malnutrition) during the first trimester tend to be at high risk of "transmitting" schizophrenia to their children.
Especially if the pregnant woman is exposed to toxic substances or viruses that attack the baby's brain. If the child's brain development is impaired, this is at risk of increasing the chances of developing schizophrenia in children.
4. Differences in brain structure
A study found that people who suffer from schizophrenia have different brain structures from birth. Reporting from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), experts reveal that there is an imbalance between the levels of dopamine and glutamate, two chemical compounds or neurotransmitters, in the brain of schizophrenics.
Apart from being carried away from birth, brain development that occurs during puberty can also trigger psychotic symptoms that lead to schizophrenia. Especially if one of your family has a history of schizophrenia, then you are at higher risk of experiencing the same mental disorder.
