Up until recently, my knowledge of the psychiatric disease, schizophrenia, was pretty limited, and I think many others can relate. All I really knew was that common symptoms include hallucinations and that it’s commonly diagnosed later in life. Over the past year, I have taken up more of an interest in mental health and the associated stigmas attached to disorders. In doing so I have learned SO much about different mental illnesses that have completely changed how I now think about them and affected individuals. This knowledge is incredibly important in the reduction of negative stigmas revolving around mental health in our society. So, my goal is to contribute to the movement by sharing some information that might help change the way you think about a specific disorder that, arguably, has some of the most severe stereotypes attached to it.
- Dysfunctional Wnt signaling is implicated in schizophrenia
Likely the most significant point – as well as with other psychiatric disorders, symptoms experienced by schizophrenic patients are NOT due to flaws in character, but rather a dysfunctional cell signaling pathway that results in significant changes in the brain. Specifically, schizophrenia has been associated with low activity or inhibition of the Wnt pathway. Normally, this pathway allows a protein called B-catenin to enter the nucleus of a cell and activate transcription of specific genes. During the transition from teenage to adult years, Wnt signaling and the expression of targeted genes play an important role in continued development, including in the brain. When this pathway is disrupted, B-catenin is destroyed before it can reach the nucleus, and those genes are not transcribed and expressed. If this occurs during that transition period, development is interfered with, and schizophrenic symptoms can result.
- Not all affected by schizophrenia experience the same symptoms
This should be fairly obvious, but it should still be pointed out that symptoms of schizophrenia vary from person to person. Symptoms are divided into two different categories – Positive symptoms and Negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include extra behavior such as delusional or irrational thinking, hallucinations, and disorganized speech and behavior. The negative symptoms may be less familiar or harder to detect, but should not be forgotten about. These include a lack of interest or emotion, monotony, withdrawal, and suicidal thoughts (note how these are seen in many other psychiatric diseases as well). Someone suffering from schizophrenia may experience symptoms from both categories, only positive symptoms, or only negative symptoms. In other words, not all schizophrenic patients experience hallucinations or hear voices. Symptoms and severity of the disease should be seen more as a spectrum. Yes, there are severe cases that may resemble portrayals of movies and the media, but there are many others that are more than capable of functioning in society.
- Concussions, and infections can induce schizophrenia
Before I get into this, I should start off by clarifying that genetic makeup is by far the biggest risk factor in developing schizophrenia. However, other factors or experienced events can also contribute to onset, such as sustained concussions and infections. For example, someone may have some gene expression associated with schizophrenia, but this does not guarantee development of the disorder will occur. Now, say this same individual sustained a concussion during their transition years. Studies suggest that the physical trauma added to genetic risk factors increases the odds of developing schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. Similarly, a woman who contracts an infection (i.e. influenza, rubella, respiratory) during pregnancy may also increase the risk of her child developing schizophrenia, as gestation is another crucial developmental period. I know, scary to think about as these situations can happen to anyone, but this again illustrates the onset of schizophrenia is multifactorial and out of the control of those who are affected.
