Schizophrenia: Causes and Risk Factors - Essay Example

? Paranoia is often an associated symptom of schizophrenia, and is even more particular to skizo affective disorders, manic phases or bipolarity, andof course, the less used 'paranoid schizophrenic'. That is what can be said to make schizophrenia a controversial disease. It is controversial in terms of the conflicting ideas surrounding the cause of this disorder. However complicated, the debate is concerning the causes of schizophrenia , it can be said that this a serious problem. That is, schizophrenia is a disease which effects a significant percentage of the population, and further, the ‘effects’ of this disease extend far beyond the individual who suffers from this disorder, the following will pay some consideration to this end. R.D. Laing was a pioneer of various treatments for the then known paranoid schizophrenics. He can be said to be an important tie between Gilles Dileuze and Michel Foucault. He is a concrete reference in 1,000 Plateau's, and is a notable figure 'personal' to both Foucault and Deleuze's respective past's. The following is an essay and analysis on the subject of paranoia as it is a part of a nexus of the "continuous forms of control" [Deleuze, 1992, , 4] . The focus of this analysis, is toward both understanding the causes of this unfortunate condition, and further, the following will examine also how schizophrenia effects those who are families or friends with individuals. Careful consideration in this discussion will be paid to understanding also, the varieties of schizophrenia , and in turn, what can be said to be the degree of severity for this disorder. This paper will begin with a discussion of the debate in the literature on this subject, and proceed to present a discussion of how schizophrenia effects the families who surround individuals who suffer from this disorder. Aside from the nexus of relationships involved, focus will also be paid to the issue of current technologies. It can be said that any use of the internet, and second, any use of a basic cell-phone both raise concerns about privacy and security. In both instances, one has to assume that they do not have control over what is being used by supposedly private data. It is a closed 'system' in the Foucault sense. One cannot control the data on either the internet or the telephone, so that one has to begin with the assumption that the subject or consumer does not have control. Likewise, this is an important parallel to skizophrenia. One either has it or they do not. Schizophrenia is a disease which can be effectively controlled. There are a number of medications which allow these individuals some relief from the suffering which is associated with schizophrenia . For the disease itself, the suffering of the individual can be seen in terms of having to cope with hallucinations. By this, it is implied in terms of seeing things which are not really there, or hearing voices, and so on [Westen, 1996, p. 593]. One can only imagine how disorienting a state of mind this must be. And, there are different types of schizophrenia in terms of the degrees with which an individual’s reality can become distorted. For example, there is a condition known as paranoia schizophrenia . This is a state of mental reasoning which is directed toward believing in the behaviour of other individuals, and sometimes objects (e.g. radios, trees). That is, it is a state of mind where the individual who is suffering from this disorder, will attribute an ‘order’ or a ‘pattern’ where such an order or pattern simply does not exist [Westen, 1996, p. 593]. The systems stand in an "analogical" relationship with each other. They are are all systems that exhibit "continuous forms of control". What is controlled, and how it is being controlled varies among "hospital system", "prison system" and the "school system". "On the other hand, the different control mechanisms are inseparable variations, forming a system of variable geometry the language of which is numerical (which doesn't necessarily mean binary)." The current control is the “pharmacological” system according [Deleuze, 1992, p. 5]. Not all patients view this treatment as necessary, and many complain about a lot of the side effects. A binary side effect example, might be the entrapment that an imposed sleep has on the individual. The good news about this disorder, is that the above symptoms can be ‘controlled’, and this is to say that this is different than a ‘cure’. Individuals who have schizophrenia can take any variety or combination of “psychotropic drugs” [Westen, 1996, p. 641]. According to recent research into this area, it is the case that these drugs are quite effective at controlling the symptoms or problems associated with this disorder. Such as the symptoms which were described in an earlier portion of this analysis. It is often the case with individuals who have schizophrenia , that they merely have to have a monthly shot of one of the varieties of psychotropic drugs which are used to control the symptoms. In this respect, it can be said that there are a number of positive discoveries with this disease, however, the ‘controlling of symptoms’ raises a number of scientific problems regarding the actual ‘cause’ or source of this disorder. Because of the success of drugs and controlling this disorder, the general psychiatric literature on this subject tends toward explaining the ‘causes’ of this disease through biological factors or variables. That is, the cause of the disease is more often than not, regarded as biological in origin. This is a position which is opposed by some in the profession, and this is one of the reasons why there is a debate over the ‘cause’ of this disease. For example, in work titled The Divided Self, the eminent British psychoanalyst, R.D. Laing argued that the cause of this disease were environmental. Phrased in other terms, the cause of this problem can be understood as something which is essentially learned. Concerning the social conditioning or environmental variables, Laing writes: . . . despite the importance of the first year of life, the nature of the milieu in which the child has tot exist throughout its infancy, childhood, and adolescence may still have a great effect one way or the other. It is at these subsequent stages that the father or other significant adults may play a decisive role in the child’s life, either in direct relation with the child or, indirectly through effects on the mother. These considerations suggest that one might do better to think of schizophrenogenic mothers [Laing, 1969, p. 206]. What is important in the above passage, is the emphasis on the notion of ‘social construction’. Psychiatrists such as Laing, and others such as Michel Foucault in his works such as The Birth of the Clinic (1973) and Madness and Civilization (1965) that this is an entirely learned behaviour. Foucault goes so far as to argue that this disease did not even exist before the Eighteenth century [Foucault, 1965: 18]. What is implied by this, needs some qualification. Foucault and Laing both approach this illness from social and historical ‘contexts’. In short, and as Foucault argues [Foucault, 1965: 18], it is the case that in the past individuals who hear voices or had visions were regarded as ‘divine’ by their peers. This is not to claim that these individuals did not have schizophrenia , but it is to claim that our social value systems have much to do with ‘labeling’. In other words, just as our personalities are shaped and determined by environmental conditions, so too with the actual ‘science’ of psychiatry. As most know, there are more arcane theories of personalities or psychology which are no longer regarded as disorders. For example, while it used to be the case in the instance of psychiatry that ‘homosexuality’ was ‘pathologized’, this is generally no longer the case. Thus, one of the important aspects of understanding the roots of this disorder, is understanding the connection with environmental circumstances. And, it is the case further, that these ‘environmental’ circumstances also shape and determine the individual’s study and label these disorders. However, and with respect to the ‘family’, there are some problems in regard to the approaches taken by those who hold a ‘strong’ social constructivist position, such as both Laing and Foucault. One of the problems with respect to the above approach to schizophrenia , concerns the consequences of this model. In the above, it is argued that this is an illness which is rooted in particular home environments and social conditions, but this argument has to be understood also in terms of how this approach may impact a family. For example, it can be argued that a family who believes that they are partially responsible for the illness, are more often than not, going to feel a tremendous amount of guilt and concern. It might be argued, for example, that a sibling of an individual who is a schizophrenia , might wonder about their own particular mental competence in some sense. That is, if a given individual is aware that it is environmental circumstances which contributed to the onset of this illness, and further, the given individual is also aware that they have been raised and nurtured in a very similar, if not the same environment, then, it follows that the person in question is going have been impacted by the social constructivist view of schizophrenia . It is often the case in turn, that families do much to isolate the child in some sense. That is, in those circumstances where one is questioning themselves to some extent, it can or could be argued that the ‘defense’ mechanisms of a sibling of a schizophrenia , might dictate that some ‘distance’ from the individual in question is necessary. In the same sense that society has marginalized individuals with mental disorders, so too within the family. It can be argued in this sense that the explanation of schizophrenia in terms of pointing toward the social and environmental circumstances, might be a type or a form of explanation which is not necessarily useful or beneficial to the family of an individual has schizophrenia . In this sense, it can be said that there are a number of problems which families must invariably cope with in regard to this disease, and having examined some of the emotional problems which are associated with schizophrenia , in terms of the family, some comments on the impact in practical terms. It can be said that there are a number of practical considerations which a family has to raise if it is the case that one of the individuals in the family in question has schizophrenia . It will be recalled that earlier, it was argued that schizophrenia has a number of different varieties on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can be argued that schizophrenia varies in the degree of severity. For example, and on the milder end of the scale, the basic feelings of ‘paranoia’ that an individual with schizophrenia might have are quite tame when contrasted to the more extreme problems which can be associated or which can accompany this disorder. For example, there are those with more severe problems where one of the consequences of this disorder is the lapsing into a “catatonic” state: “Catatonic schizophrenia is marked by peculiar motor behaviour, such as an extended period of frozen movement and stupor, in which the individual is minimally responsive to the external world.” [Westen, 1996, p. 594]. In the above instance, it can be said that there is a much greater degree of responsibility associated with this form of schizophrenia . That is, there are practical decisions in terms of whether or not the individual is capable of safely living on their own, and so forth. In the latter forms of schizophrenia , it is more common that such individuals do become institutionalized, and this is what is implied by the ‘degree of severity’ for this illness. This is not to claim that families do necessarily have an obligation, but it is to claim that the extent to which they might take responsibility for their family member, is determined or measured in terms of the severity of the illness. This is one of the more central practical considerations with respect to how schizophrenia effects or has an impact on a family. By and large, however, it can be said that most of schizophrenia is essentially ‘controllable’ with medication in form or another. That is, in terms of the use of psychotropic drugs which were described above. In the most practical terms in this regard, it might be the case that an individual with schizophrenia can lead a functional and normal life, but that the family or whomever must at least insure, for example, that the individual with this disease is taking their medication. Or, that the individual in question is having regular contact with someone from the medical profession. In sum, it is important to stress that because this disease is varied, so too with the impact on the family, and this paper has tried or attempted to show just how the disease itself must be understood for the further purpose or end of coping with the disease. Schizophrenia is a closed system. It conforms to the “language of which is numerical” criteria set out for defining a system in Foucault by Deleuze. When Deleuze points to numerical language, he also qualifies this by saying that it “doesn't necessarily mean binary” [Deleuze, 1992, 4]. In the case of schizophrenia, and paranoia there is very much a number of binaries worth mentioning. The distortion or inversion of truth and reality in the form of auditory or visual hallucinations, is an either/or. As is, the capacity for pharmacological's to “control” the symptoms. Likewise, the institutional control on schizophrenia is also a binary relationship or numeric one. One is either in the institution, or they are not. Finally, paranoia is often associated with the hearing of voices, receiving particular messages to the very extent that the client or victim is unable to “control” them. They have sign over that control to an institution or a medication. Paranoia is very much an 'either or' as well. The idea that someone is listening is probable with contemporary technologies, and there too with it, any form of individual control over it. Paranoia is a feeling marked by a lack of control, and yet, we can find some measures like internet security to regain some of that control too. Presumably too with the feeling of having your conversations listened to. There is a high probability that someone could be listening to a live conversation or an archived one. While there may not be the same degree of capacity to build 'third party' security against the proprietary software running funs, it can be assumed too that there are measures that can help with the 'control' or protection. Works Cited: Deleuze, Gilles. “Postscript on the societies of control”. October, Vol. 59. (Winter, 1992), pp. 3-7. Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Inanity in the Age of Reason (New York: Pantheon, 1965). __________ . The Birth of the Clinic. An Archeology of Medical Perception (New York: Pantheon Books, 1973). Laing, R.D.. The Divided Self (New York: Pantheon Books, 1969). Westen, Drew. Psychology. Mind, Brain, and Culture (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996). FOUCAULT AND TECHNOLOGY/PRIVACY PARANOIA Read More