Talking To The Demons

Newsweek: A study published last month in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, the most definitive look at schizophrenia to date, argues that trauma or childhood abuse is a factor in the development of the disease. While schizophrenia is the product of a complex interplay between a host of environmental and genetic factors, it seems that "genes do not cause the outcome, but identify those who might be susceptible to the environmental risks," says Dr. Mary Clarke, a psychiatric researcher at Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons. A review of 46 studies of schizophrenics by Auckland University psychologist John Read found that 59 percent of male inpatients and 69 percent of females had experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse. In a separate study, which included physical neglect and physical or emotional abuse, the level rose to 85 percent of males and 100 percent of women. Says Read: "We have around the world millions of people with a diagnosis that masks the true social causes, and therefore prevents people from getting help which would be more effective and humane."