Schizophrenia linked to child abuse

[jingofever]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/uom-mat061306.php">www.eurekalert.org/pub_re...061306.php</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Manchester academic to tell conferences: Child abuse can cause schizophrenia<br>University of Manchester researcher Paul Hammersley is to tell two international conferences, in London and Madrid on 14 June 2006, that child abuse can cause schizophrenia.<br><br>The groundbreaking and highly contentious theory, co-presented by New Zealand clinical psychologist Dr John Read, has been described as "an earthquake" that will radically change the psychiatric profession.<br><br>Clinical psychologist and writer Dr Oliver James commented: "The psychiatric establishment is about to experience an earthquake that will shake its intellectual foundations [and] may trigger a landslide."<br><br>Mr Hammersley, Programme Director for the COPE (Collaboration of Psychosocial Education) Initiative at the School of Nursing Midwifery and Social Work, said: "We are not returning to the 1960s and making the mistake of blaming families, but professionals have to realize that child abuse was a reality for large numbers of adult sufferers of psychosis."<br><br>He added: "We work very closely in collaboration with the Hearing Voices Network, that is with the people who hear voices in their head. The experience of hearing voices is consistently associated with childhood trauma regardless of diagnosis or genetic pedigree."<br><br>Dr Read said: "I hope we soon see a more balanced and evidence-based approach to schizophrenia and people using mental health services being asked what has happened to them and being given help instead of stigmatizing labels and mood-altering drugs."<br><br>Hammersley and Read argue that two-thirds of people diagnosed as schizophrenic have suffered physical or sexual abuse and thus it is shown to be a major, if not the major, cause of the illness. With a proven connection between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, they say, many schizophrenic symptoms are actually caused by trauma.<br><br>Their evidence includes 40 studies, which revealed childhood or adulthood sexual or physical abuse in the history of the majority of psychiatric patients and a review of 13 studies of schizophrenics found abuse rates from a low of 51% to a high of 97%. Psychiatric patients who report abuse are much more likely to experience hallucinations – flashbacks which have become part of the schizophrenic experience and hallucinations or voices that bully them as their abuser did thus causing paranoia and a mistrust of people close to them.<br><br>They admit not all schizophrenics suffered trauma and not all abused people develop the illness, but believe less traumatic childhood maltreatment, rather than actual abuse, may be an important difference. In their review of the 33,648 studies conducted into the causes of schizophrenia between 1961 and 2000, they found that less than 1% was spent on examining the impact of parental care. Still, they say, there have been enough studies to suggest negative or confusing early care may be an important addition to abuse as a cause.<br><br>Genes may still have a role to play but other evidence Hammersley and Read cite shows that genes alone do not cause the illness. A recent study compared 56 adoptees born to schizophrenic mothers with 96 adoptees whose biological parents did not have the illness. The families were observed extensively when the children were small and all the adoptees were assessed for psychiatric illness in adulthood. It was found that if there was a high genetic risk and it was combined with mystifying care during upbringing, the likelihood of developing schizophrenia was greater - genes alone did not cause the illness.<br><br>In addition a recent review revealed that, apart from for Alzheimer's, not a single gene has been shown to play a critical role in any mental illness, while sociological studies show that schizophrenia poor people are several times more likely than the rich to suffer schizophrenia and urban life increases the risk.<br><br>Finally, they argue, if patients believe their illness is an unchangeable genetic destiny and that it is a physical problem requiring a physical solution, they will readily accept a drug prescribed to them when in fact they require other therapy. Worse, those who buy the genetic fairytale are less likely to recover, and that parents who do so are less supportive of their offspring. They recommend that all patients be asked in detail about whether they have been abused, anti-psychotic drugs no longer be doled out automatically and psychological therapies offered more often.<br><br>Hammersley and Read will propose the motion 'Tears on my pillow, voices in my head: This house believes child abuse is a cause of schizophrenia' at a public debate at the Institute of Psychiatry in London on 14 June 2006. They will also be speaking at 15th ISPS Symposium for the Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia and other Psychoses in Madrid on the same day.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>

[bvonahsen]

well duh... <p></p><i></i>

[Joe Hillshoist]

I have been lucky enough to know several people who suffered sexual abuse as children, some possibly even victims of the network of abuse that RI suspects is operating in todays structures of power. I say lucky, cos they are people I am glad to have known. My life has been better for their existence.<br><br>After seeing the consequences of their abuse I can only say this Hammersly guy is probably onto something.<br><br>One of the most disturbing things I ever heard was one of them regressing to childhood. 3 years old... I don't necessarily think she was stuck in the past, thinking she was 3, but I think she was reliving what it was like to be 3 because she could then express trust and innosence.<br><br>I think understand the dissociative side of this, and as a slight digression, would even go so far as to wonder if there is any connection between abuse and epilepsy.<br><br>My friend who was abused around 3 years of age is not exactly schizophrenic, but she used to say some stuff that was just bizarre. Until I started thinking about it in the context of RSA or mind control.<br><br>The split in her personality when she exhibited the regression behaviour made me think that it wasn't that she was returning to a 3 yr old mindset, as I mentioned above, but that her behaviour was something to do with coping. As I said before, about her reliving that mindset to relive a period in her life when she could express trust and interest.<br><br>The part of her personality that would have grown and developed the skills of trusting, knowing when not to, being innocent in that you don't have to be always worried about potential threats, that part possibly (definitely I think) stopped developing at 3.<br><br>I think, when were close (we still are but time and distance mean we only catch up every few years) and spent alot of time together, as friends doing dodgy things, that helped her heal. She only did that regression thing a few times, and after that she suddenly put on a growth spurt as far as personal development goes. That crew went through alot of mad shit in the old days, and those of us that made it have this strong bond. We are family, by ordeal not genetics.<br><br>Her abuser was a family member. Thats why the bond between us was so important in allowing her the safe space to trust and heal. It was a kind of surrogate family of criminal thug meth fiends who somehow got our shit together and built some good things with our lives. The thing with that is we lived and broke the law so many times, not just using and dealing either. (that was in the past, and another jurisdiction.)<br><br>Her stepdad was a pillar of society, respected and ... he was a fucking rape councellor and the headmaster of one of the most exclusive private girls schools in melbourne. If I ever have a death list, his name will be on it, and he will go slowly into that good night. It won't be gentle either.<br><br>But its not my job to inflict vengence on arseholes.<br><br>I guess that made the illegal stuff we did seem somehow more morally justifiable. And more honest and trustworthy. We were pretty honourable for crims. Especially compared to that piece of shit.<br><br>Our world and her abusers world were very seperate ones or so it seemed. I think this is a vital aspect of helping her heal.<br><br>Bridging the gap between her childhood pre abuse, and today, in a way that gave that connection the power to withstand alot of the ugliness in the world, I really think that was important. Its not all roses of course, life hurts, thats why the good is so good. But to me child abuse removes the ability to see that it is only the knife of our sorrow that carves the cup of our joy from the wood of our being.<br><br>help them recover the ability to see that and the cup of their joy has more capacity than the pacific ocean. <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

This is a little confusing. "Hearing voices in your head" is more like DID or multiple personality disorder and is not necessarily a sign of schizophrenia. In fact, I'm sure the two are often diagnostically confused.<br><br>Maybe they are on a "continuum" but the thought patterns of a schizophrenic are usually so disorganized that the difference is clear. My wife has had a couple of delusional periods in which there were some external hallucinations or in which she saw "faces" in the wall, etc, but this is not typical. The voices in her head, of course, ARE typical. They are parts of her, but they don't say anything grandiose. They don't tell her to kill people for bizarre reasons. They do sometimes tell her to hurt herself, which is usually self imposed "punishment" for disclosing something. In other words, there is a logic and coherence to the identities and communications of these voices. they might have "paranoia' of people out to get her, but I find these are usually fears left over from actual experiences. For example, she's not real fond of police now, after having had them come take her away (ultimately in an ambulance, thankfully) twice now.<br><br>So I guess I'd like to see the study. How do they define schizophrenia? Surely it is beyond "voices in the head." <br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[blanc]

I have a close connection to someone who went this route, and was there as the ptsd became 'complex' and was subsequently diagnosed by a pick and mix variety, until finally schizophrenia was settled on. she herself knowingly took the decision to stop talking about the ra, because no-one listened or believed, and we have a kind of jokey way of referring to her diagnosis - that its not right but it pays the rent. (disablement benefits follow)at one time, at the most terrible stage when the untreated ptsd 'turned' into a maelstrom of psychotic disorder, the drugs, some of them, helped, at least in so far as she was able to rest. but now they have created their own set of overlaying problems. I guess the PTB would rather pay disablement and a pretty high drug bill for someone for life than admit ra and treat them with the theapy they need. admitting ra would mean making prosecutions, prosecutions might light some very dark corners. I am on the edge of my seat as I wait to see what the psycgs do now. <p></p><i></i>

[greencrow0]

Puleeze...don't do this to families. Schizophrenia is a genetic and biochemical disease. It runs in families. <br><br>It is hell on wheels for the families involved. Please do not burden them with guilt as well.<br><br>A family with nine children. Three have Law Degrees...one has a law degree and a chartered accountancy degree....Two have masters degrees, one has a Ph.D. One has a BSW and a BA.<br><br>All are gainfully employed. All have lived successful lives...<br><br>...except for one child who had schizophrenia, suffered bravely with it for 50 years and then killed himself.<br><br>The provincial government cut off his and his wife's housekeeping service (she was bi polar) and their place was a mess...the building owners gave them an eviction notice...<br><br>...on the week it arrived...he killed himself.<br><br>Stop placing guilt where it doesn't belong. Schizophrenia is a genetic, biochemical, mental illness. end of story.<br><br>GC <p></p><i></i>

[greencrow0]

again, I posted here but my post disappeared, Jeff.<br><br>Serious matter for the blog. Sorry.<br><br>GC <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

I think the average number of misdiagnoses for DID, regardless of the particular trauma that leads to it is something like 8. My wife was "bipolar" for awhile...though that never fit. <p></p><i></i>

[Project Willow]

The lay public often confuses DID and schizophrenia, so much so I get tired of correcting people. But perhaps they "get it" intuitively after all. There is no doubt that many people with DID get diagnosed with schizophrenia. I would not welcome its attending stigma however, if a continuum or overlap of sorts was understood.<br><br>Here is a paper I've posted before to this board regarding this subject:<br><br>"The Contribution of Early Traumatic Events<br>to Schizophrenia in Some Patients:<br>A Traumagenic Neurodevelopmental Model"<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:cJR1PIcdQckJ:www.childtrauma.org/CTAMATERIALS/Psychiatry_02.pdf+etiology+schizophrenia+child+abuse&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=36">Link</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Here's a contentious supposition:<br><br>"Many Researchers have challenged the reliability, validity, and clinical utility of the "schizophrenia" construct (Bentall 1990;Boyle 1990; McGorry et al. 1995;Read 1997, 200). Its heterogeneity alone dictates that a single primary cause, psychosocial or biogenic, will never be discovered. It may be more constructive to focus on what people have in common etiologically rather than in terms of symptoms. Instead of separating the sequelae of abuse into putatively discrete diagnoses (PTSD, dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, etc.), it might be more productive to view them as interacting components of a long-term process beginning with adaptive responses to early aversive events and evolving into a range of maladaptive disturbances in multiple personal and interpersonal domains (Ensink, 1992). In other words: "Many investigators suggest that this diversity is more apparent than real and that a set of basic developmental disruptions link ostensible differences" (Putnam and Trickett 1997, p.152).<br><br>Another quote:<br><br>“Many clinicians cannot differentiate<br>dissociative symptoms from psychotic ones. It<br>is an open research question whether reliable<br>qualitative differentiations between dissociative<br>and psychotic Schneiderian symptoms are possible” (Ross and Joshi 1992, p. 272). <br> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

According another thread, one can induce a schizophrenic experience with just 48 hours of sensory deprivation. I wonder if there's any overlap between the two scenarios -- e.g., abused children withdrawn/forced into isolation? <p></p><i></i>

[blanc]

In the case I am referring to, one of the perps told another victim that if she remebered she would go mad and be diagnosed schizophrenic. Also Louf stated that if you tell, they either kill you or send you mad. The link between an ability to 'process' adrenaline , adrenochrome, and schizophrenia, was explored by Dr Hoffer in his work. RA victims are subjected to intolerable levels of stress, and given the means to develop an amnesia. But this amnesia is not an impermeable barrier, and when the memories come through, they can do so in an avalanche of terrifying re-living of the original traumas. I watched this happen, helplessly, unable to get treatment for the person. After a short while, the person's agitation level is such that without any form of treatment, they are unable to rest, do not eat, drink, sleep - become in the grip of an unreal reality and react to this, with aggresion, or moaning or screaming in terror, or putting themselves in danger, running wild, living out the 'suicide programming' . At this point, in the absence of any biochemical testing or brain scanning, with only the impression a duty psychiatrist has, how can anyone seriously claim to be making a diagnosis? Rough guess is more like it.<br>Antipsychotics are used - first the chemical club, and then one of the milder ones - a half life of being either too zonked out to cope or too agitated to concentrate follows.<br>Psychiatrists have been threatened by the lawyers of the abusers in many cases and some have lost their jobs, they have little time and few facilities and the UK government's only published report on RA was the debunking whitewash La Fontaine produced, written without any reference to survivors, burying a police report which did not accord with the conclusion of the report. A psychiatrist faced with a psychotic patient and a reported history of abuse must be saying to himself "I can help this person by giving her these drugs which will stop her suffering, and getting her social support; I can't do anything about her past, whether the allegations are true or not. "<br>Diagnosis of schizophrenia is helpful to the Police response, which is usually to try to shelve the difficult case ASAP, preferably no-criming. Once the victim/plaintiff/witness is diagnosed as suffering from an incurable mental illness, he/she is never going to be able to testify. Defense Counsel has an easy enough time getting rapists off the hook when the plaintiff is sane, allegations from someone deemed mentally incompetent would just never get to court. <br>Only losers are children, ra abusers are unstoppable until both psychiatrists and police get to grips with the uncomfortable realities. My gut feeling is that it is only the 'success' of ra - its propagation, the spawning of more and more sadistic groups of abusers creating more and more victims which is beginning to make a change in perceptions. There are now just so very many mentally ill young people.<br><br>I'm eager to see if there is going to be any trickle down from this report, any change of direction in the psych community. <p></p><i></i>