what is the diathesis stress model?
-diathesis= vulnerability
-stress= negative experience
-diathesis stress model explains that both a vulnerability to schizophrenia and a stress trigger is needed in order to develop schizophrenia
whats meehls model?
-Meehls model is the first diathesis model to explain schizophrenia
-in this model he believed the vulnerability is completely genetic and was due to a result of a single schizogene
-he believed that this schizogene lead to a schizotypic personality
-a characteristic of this schizotypic gene is being particularly sensitive to stress
-he believed no matter how much stress a individual experiences they wont develop schizophrenia unless they have the schizogene
-however if they are a carrier of the schizogene and they experience chronic stress through childhood they can develop schizophrenia
what is the modern understanding of diathesis?
-the modern understanding of diathesis acknowledges how there isnt a single gene (schizogene) which causes schizophrenia
-because schizophrenia is polygenetic, can be caused by multiple genes
-modern diathesis identifies that vulnerability is beyond genetic it can be caused by psychological trauma (so trauma becomes the diathesis rather than the stressor)
-read et al stated how early trauma such as child abuse can alter the developing brain.
-E.g HPA system may become overactive which makes people more vulnerable to later stress
what is the modern understanding of stress?
-originally stress was only seen as psychological and related to things such as parenting
-modern definition of stress includes anything that risks the trigger of schizophrenia
-for example there has been research done on how cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia
-research finds cannabis use can increase risk of schizophrenia by 7 times
-this may be due to how it impacts dopamine levels
-however many people don’t develop schizophrenia after smoking cannabis because they lack the vulnerability factor
