Schizophrenia is commonly portrayed in media as its more severe cases, resulting in illusions of the individual leading to them hearing and seeing things that aren’t reality. The range of Schizophrenia cases vary, however I found the developmental factors of Schizophrenia is rather intriguing. The potential implications of other environmental factors on an individual that could result as an increased risk for developing Schizophrenia. As with most cases individuals see onset of Schizophrenia in their early adulthood. During this period there is an increased amount of the many factors that could result in the potential for transcription of Schizophrenic genetic factors. Some of these factors being stress and substance abuse. These factors act on epigenetic regulation of genes, this results from activation/regulation of genes via environmental factors. The degree of these factors can also be present during conception, for example individuals with older fathers are at a higher risk for Schizophrenia, other pregnancy complications can also increase chances for development of Schizophrenia.
I find this interesting, as for most parents, they attempt to control the environment to the best of their extent. However based on these factors, this increases the amount of parameters out of ones control. The results of epigenetic factors create in major implications for development of Schizophrenia and other major impacts on mental developmental processes. The encoding of various hidden environmentally triggered life changing genes is a startling thought, as there are so many factors that we are unable to control in our lives. There are some factors that can be limited or omitted completely, avoiding substance abuse, and finding outlets for stress are factors that can be directly controlled, thus decreasing potential risk for Schizophrenia.
