Is this a biological disease or environmental?

DX'd - Other
22

Environmental can mean how you were treated (product of your environment) but also the natural environment we live in. There is no delusion at all in the studies done linking various menatl and physical illnesses to environmental factors of this kind…

here is an example regarding GMO foods

'As early as 2008, NaturalNews.com reported about a condition called Morgellon’s disease. The article went on to report the symptoms of the disease as follows: crawling, stinging, biting and crawling sensations; threads or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; granules, lesions. Some patients report fatigue, short term memory loss, mental confusion, joint pain and changes in vision. Furthermore, there have been reports of substantial morbidity and social dysfunction leading to a dip in work productivity, job loss, total disability, divorce, loss of child custody and home abandonment.

Prior to its reporting, the condition was dismissed as a hoax, but upon further investigation, the evidence pointed out that the disease was real and may be related to genetically modified food.

Learn more: GMO alert: top 10 genetically modified foods to avoid eating - NaturalNews.com

As far as things like ghosts and spirits, we are not “ill” if we see or sense these. I know my wifes ghost has more than proved herself…she has physically manifested things out of thin air to two different people. Among other feats of power.
The Moon affecting us due to the abundance of positive ions in the atmosphere is a proven fact…since we know ions do affect our brain.

While some conspiracy theory is way out there, it is based on some things that are real… if you want proof of that - for many years we heard conspiracy theories that the govt was monitoring our phones and emails…Many thought it was just a conspiracy theory… until last year when Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA… not so conspiracy any more now.

23

i’ve just realised that this subject is not as simple as i thought upon looking up environmental psychology, there are lots of different branches that fall under this heading and it would take too long to search and read them all individually.

i believe your environmental analogies will fall under one of these branches but i am not sure which as it is so broad and in depth on each subject, it would help if we could break it down so people could understand more about the concept of this branch of psychology but whether they would be interested or not is another story.

24

I believe sz is environmental in the main and that they “hide” this fact from us so we won’t go around blaming others for what happened to us, like people who abused us or gave us a horrible environment.

judy

25

It is very expansive. You could even break down the type of traumas in the human contact environment that can affect mental health. Just some are abuse trauma, poverty, and grief - each of those 3 is different but can result in mental as well as physical problems.
then when you get into the natural environment you have pollutants in the environment, toxins we consume in our foods, EM pollution, and even noise pollution which is something we haven’t even discussed here…but I know exposure to loud noises or ongoing noise can affect ones mental stability.

@ifeelblessed the article posted show how some psychologists challenged the biological model and found it faulty, and how mainstream psychiatrists opposed them. Of course they would…it’s a challenge to their profession and might affect the financial windfall the big pharma industries get selling psych meds to people who dont need them.
There are reports by medical professionals, including psychiatrists that show most people who are given meds for mental illness don’t need them, and there are other alternatives.
More therapists should be like the clinic i used to go to and my counselor who told me meds are a last resort, and they will try other therapies before meds.

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26

After studying biological psychology last year I learnt that people with schizophrenia have a biological predisposition but it is the environment that triggers off the illness itself. Anyone can have the predisposition but can go throughout their life without a break, so it is the environment; so stress, trauma, etc that lead to the first break.

That’s what I believe; with me for example, I was three months premature so that was probably the predisposition my environment was full of stress, my first signs things weren’t okay was when I was 7 then again at 14 my iq went up I went from being quiet mediocre to the top few in my year, so the school ploughed down on me. That’s when my prodromal symptoms started. Trauma when I was 15 my uncle committed suicide in a rather brutal way and then an abusive relationship with an adult. First break when I was 16 then further assault, hospital admission more stress, second break, mistreatment and I never fully recovered, which led to schiz label at 18/19.

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27

i think children growing up these days are spoilt and wrapped in cotton wool which doesn’t prepare them for the real world and life on their own, you need to prepared them for challenges and pitfalls take the good with the bad, its not all a bed of roses all the time sort of thing,

still i had an upbringing of that of poverty and never having any money, having to steal and wear cheap clothes, i guess lots of factors come in to it and i bet we all have a tale to tell but despite all of this i had a good upbringing i think sometimes the hardships toughen you up a bit and maybe i would have been worse off without them.

28

Its both. The genes create a predisposition - the environment (from the womb environment on…) triggers it:

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/004311.html

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29

I agree, I wouldn’t be who I am; on the journey I am, if it wasn’t for my upbringing. I’ve fought battles that have made me unique, I’ve seen what the world can be, which is something my old friends haven’t really seen, they’re still very naive; I saw them about a year ago in the street and we were worlds apart. I get on much better with people who are much older than me. As they have seen the world.

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30

Schizophrenia is essentially a weak brain and is biological, any environment would break it eventually if not the maturation process itself

31

Yes, schizophrenia is a biological based brain disorder - our environment can act as a trigger - stress makes this illness much worse - drugs, life changes/stressors, trauma, abuse, divorce etc… can all trigger or worsen schizophrenia. Some people do not have a specific stressor in their life and they still go on to develop schizophrenia
Growing up with panic disorder/anxiety - living in an emotionally charged family environment and later going away from home to college and dabbling in drugs - especially psychedelics were my trigger points (environmental stressors) but I was born with the messed up genes - brain chemistry (schizophrenia/bipolar) to begin with

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32

put it this way i have the evidence of it being geneti in my family my grandad was schizophrenic so is my dad and i am the one who got it out of 3 kids. however critical parents, abuse trauma all that stuff contribute towards it some major breakthroughs have occured regarding the DNA of schizophrenics i am hopeful about this its sort of for me proven that genetics has a role at least. roll on the cure!

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33

I’d have to totally disagree with the ‘weak brain’ theory. It may be a more sensitive brain, but not weak. In many cases it is the ability to perceive things most others do not perceive.
Awhile back there were topics posted about shamanism and SZ - how in the past people who exhibited Sz like symptoms would go to the local shaman to have their abilities understood and developed, often becoming spiritual leaders. So if anything they had a unique brain and a strong brain, though sensitive and empathic.

We have to be careful with modern perceptions of things. You have the powers that be in modern society giving labels to things they themselves admit they do not know what the actual cause is. the same power structure that gives us genetically altered foods, pollutes the environment, cuts down our forests, and endangers entire species of wildlife. A society DISCONNECTED from nature and spirit, mere humans that take on the role of gods… and at least a few people are awake to this fact and speaking & doing the alternative…

^ ‘33’ - the Illuminati has spoken! LOL j/k…
Actually the real meaning of the word is ’ people claiming to possess special enlightenment or knowledge of something.’ and not some secret society bent on world domination.
So maybe i am not joking… :slight_smile:

34

This disease is in your genes, its genetic, youre destined to get it based on karma.

35

if schizophrenia was biological and in our genes then why was i ok for so long before i got symptoms?

would it not make more sense if i had it from birth?

36

Since when have reputable scientists declared it a ‘neurotoxin’?

37

@daydreamer,

I don’t think that schizophrenia is completely genetic, but there are genetic diseases in which symptoms don’t become apparent until later in life. If you get a chance, look up Huntington’s disease. The disease is genetic (completely genetic, if my understanding is correct), but symptoms usually don’t begin to develop until middle adulthood. So, I can’t say exactly why some genetic health conditions involve symptoms that begin later in life (although someone with a more advanced understanding of the biology involved probably can), but I can say that not all genetic health conditions come with symptoms that can be detected early in life.

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38

you know, what if it was the environment that caused it and our genes just mutated a long with our environment, like if you think of the brain as a mass of signals and wires and fuses etc,

think of the brain as a massive computer where the wires are our neural networks and there are a series of gates in our brains like on a circuit board with and, nand, nor, or gates etc each gate has a different function,

so we are not having a good time basically and we are using a different wire and the thoughts are going through a different gate than it use to because of things that have been worrying us.

the worry gets worse and the traffic along these wires gets increased and we get in to a cycle of using the wrong wires going through the wrong gates to the wrong places until we can’t take much more and we blow a fuse and have a mental break down.

the medications try to block these signals going through certain gates and they are stopped or redirected.

i am trying to explain this is in a way that makes more sense but you are all probably confused by now, basically i was taught about circuit boards and programs at school (altho i have forgotten a lot) but i do remember the principle, even though we are not programmed and we are biological beings we still sort of have a battery and control centre in the brain.

sorry if i am not making sense but i guess i am trying to explain this as if we were all biological robots of some sort lol.

does anyone know what i mean?

this is a list of gates which incidentally are called logic gates-

makes me wonder if we could ever make a model of a circuit board and programme of our own mental illness, and watch it run, i am not a scientist and i haven’t got the know how to do that but i think it would be interesting.

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39

I think I understand what you’re saying, @daydreamer. I only know so much about environmental factors that contribute to schizophrenia, but I do know that stress and trauma can cause changes in the brain and possibly also in the expression of genes. In other words, things in our environment can influence the ways in which our brains are wired, which I think is one of the things that you’re basically saying. I do think that there are some indicators that stress and trauma at least play a role in the development of schizophrenia, so I’m certainly not saying that these things aren’t factors. I think that there’s a lot of truth to what you’re saying, but I also think that genes are a factor, as family, twin, and adoptive study results seem to indicate.

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40

To quote the link

“Hopefully, you don’t believe everything you read on the internet”

Such as

“The FDA, the companies that make the product, and the “medical industrial complex” all know about the dangers of this chemical but are hiding the truth from the public in order to protect corporate profits and avoid the pesky paper work that would accompany the truth being revealed. The only glimmer of hope is a dedicated band of bloggers and anonymous e-mail chain letter authors who aren’t afraid to speak the truth. Armed with the latest anecdotal evidence, unverified speculation, and scientifically implausible claims, they have been tirelessly ranting about the evils of this chemical for years. Undeterred by the countless published studies manufactured by the food cartel that show this chemical is safe”

I’ve seen plenty of scientific articles…Even the govt…
So lets see what the US govt really has to say…

“Anecdotal reports suggest that some people suffer neurologic or behavioral reactions in association with aspartame consumption. Since phenylalanine can be neurotoxic and can affect the synthesis of inhibitory monoamine neurotransmitters, the phenylalanine in aspartame could conceiveably mediate neurologic effects. If mice are given aspartame in doses that elevate plasma phenylalanine levels more than those of tyrosine (which probably occurs after any aspartame dose in humans), the frequency of seizures following the administration of an epileptogenic drug, pentylenetetrazole, is enhanced. This effect is simulated by equimolar phenylalanine and blocked by concurrent administration of valine, which blocks phenylalanine’s entry into the brain. Aspartame also potentiates the induction of seizures by inhaled fluorothyl or by electroconvulsive shock. Perhaps regulations concerning the sale of food additives should be modified to require the reporting of adverse reactions and the continuing conduct of mandated safety research.”

Also consider
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/Apr03/042503/02P-0317_emc-000245.txt

"As a former FDA investigator, I was charged with overseeing two major
projects for the FDA. These concerned Pesticides and Chemicals in Foods
and Illegal Drug Tissue Residues in Animals (including milk related issues).

I worked closely with the sister Federal and State agencies, oversaw
contracts, I was a co-ordinator and lead investigator on projects involving
EPA and USDA. The FDA, in the mid-70’s to mid-90’s was not a large
organization, having an annual budget no greater than a medium-sized
hospital by 1995.

The problems with aspartame include not only the biochemical nature of this
toxin but also it sheds light on the political nature of the players
involved. The changes in regulatory policies and regulations resulting
from corporate-government ties and the politicians closely associated with
these ties.

What I can tell you, regarding toxicology, histology and biochemistry, is
that aspartame is neurotoxic. Its components easily transcend the
blood-brain barrier, interfering with normal nerve cell function. This
affects the glutathione and calcium mechanisms in place, destroying nerve
call integrity. The methanol then breaks down into formaldehyde-formic
acid components, which denaturizes/mutates the DNA: a known scientific
fact."

41

I was reading a book called Dianetics when I had my first episode. The book reffered to what it called a demon circuit where a person is stuck in. Thats kind of what Schizophrenia seems like to me. I am stuck in this same circuit and I can only feel and think on this terrible circuit only.