Schizophrenia and Pregnancy: Genetic Links and Effects

BACKGROUND

Schizophrenia, a debilitating psychological disorder, is caused by a multitude of factors. Part genetic, part environmental, part developmental and part unknown variable, schizophrenia affects approximately one percent of the population. (Myers, 2007) This number does not include all the friends, family member, coworkers and others who are affected from being around someone with this type of disease. Though heavily studied throughout the world, schizophrenia still remains a mystery to psychological researchers.

Schizophrenia symptoms usually begin during progression through the young adult years. Both positive and negative symptoms to the disease exist making it difficult to find a one-size-fits-all style of treatment. Positive symptoms, easily recognizable, include hallucinations and delusions, disorganized thinking and nearly catatonic states. Negative symptoms are not the opposite of positive symptoms. On the contrary, negative symptoms are more in tune with typical depression symptoms. These include rarely speaking, inability to enjoy life, a static type of emotional responsiveness, and others.

Psychologists separate schizophrenia patients into 5 subtypes: paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Paranoid schizophrenia is classified by the presence of hallucinations and/or delusions. Disorganized schizophrenia show signs of "disorganized speech or behavior." (Myers, 2007) Catatonic schizophrenia is not just immobility, as the name suggests, but mimicking other people and being exceptionally negative. Undifferentiated schizophrenia includes both positive and negative symptoms without psychological preference. Lastly, residual schizophrenia is characterized by "withdrawal, after hallucinations and delusions have disappeared." (Myers, 2007) Schizophrenia patients exhibit a variety of symptoms and, therefore, cannot be classified under just one umbrella.