Book contents
- Seminars in General Adult Psychiatry
- College Seminars Series
- Seminars in General Adult Psychiatry
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Clinical Epidemiology
- Chapter 2 Assessment, Formulation and Diagnosis
- Chapter 3.1 Clinical Features of Depressive Disorders
- Chapter 3.2 Causes of Depression
- Chapter 3.3 Drug and Physical Treatments of Depression
- Chapter 3.4 Psychological and Social Treatment of Depression
- Chapter 4.1 Bipolar Disorder
- Chapter 4.2 Bipolar Disorder
- Chapter 5.1 Schizophrenia and Other Primary Psychoses
- Chapter 5.2 Causes and Outcome of Psychosis
- Chapter 5.3 Drug Treatment of the Psychoses
- Chapter 5.4 Psychosocial Management of Psychosis
- Chapter 6.1 Anxiety Disorders
- Chapter 6.2 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Chapter 6.3 Specific Phobias
- Chapter 6.4 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
- Chapter 6.5 Functional Neurological Disorder
- Chapter 6.6 Bodily Distress Disorder, Chronic Pain and Factitious Disorders
- Chapter 7.1 Clinical Features and Implications of New Classification of Personality Disorders
- Chapter 7.2 Clinical Approaches to Personality Disorder (AKA Complex Emotional Needs)
- Chapter 7.3 Antisocial and Other Personality Disorders, Impulse Control Disorders, and Non-substance Addictive Disorders
- Chapter 8 Neuropsychiatric Disorders
- Chapter 9 Autism
- Chapter 10 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Chapter 11 Sleep Disorders and Psychiatry
- Chapter 12 Eating Disorders
- Chapter 13 Perinatal Psychiatry
- Chapter 14 Substance Use Disorders
- Chapter 15 Suicide and Self Harm
- Chapter 16 Physical Health Care
- Chapter 17 Culture, Mental Health and Mental Illnesses
- Chapter 18 Psychiatry in Primary Care
- Chapter 19 Psychiatry in the General Hospital
- Chapter 20 Adult Mental Health Services
- Index
- References
Chapter 5.2 - Causes and Outcome of Psychosis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 April 2024
- Seminars in General Adult Psychiatry
- College Seminars Series
- Seminars in General Adult Psychiatry
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Clinical Epidemiology
- Chapter 2 Assessment, Formulation and Diagnosis
- Chapter 3.1 Clinical Features of Depressive Disorders
- Chapter 3.2 Causes of Depression
- Chapter 3.3 Drug and Physical Treatments of Depression
- Chapter 3.4 Psychological and Social Treatment of Depression
- Chapter 4.1 Bipolar Disorder
- Chapter 4.2 Bipolar Disorder
- Chapter 5.1 Schizophrenia and Other Primary Psychoses
- Chapter 5.2 Causes and Outcome of Psychosis
- Chapter 5.3 Drug Treatment of the Psychoses
- Chapter 5.4 Psychosocial Management of Psychosis
- Chapter 6.1 Anxiety Disorders
- Chapter 6.2 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Chapter 6.3 Specific Phobias
- Chapter 6.4 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
- Chapter 6.5 Functional Neurological Disorder
- Chapter 6.6 Bodily Distress Disorder, Chronic Pain and Factitious Disorders
- Chapter 7.1 Clinical Features and Implications of New Classification of Personality Disorders
- Chapter 7.2 Clinical Approaches to Personality Disorder (AKA Complex Emotional Needs)
- Chapter 7.3 Antisocial and Other Personality Disorders, Impulse Control Disorders, and Non-substance Addictive Disorders
- Chapter 8 Neuropsychiatric Disorders
- Chapter 9 Autism
- Chapter 10 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- Chapter 11 Sleep Disorders and Psychiatry
- Chapter 12 Eating Disorders
- Chapter 13 Perinatal Psychiatry
- Chapter 14 Substance Use Disorders
- Chapter 15 Suicide and Self Harm
- Chapter 16 Physical Health Care
- Chapter 17 Culture, Mental Health and Mental Illnesses
- Chapter 18 Psychiatry in Primary Care
- Chapter 19 Psychiatry in the General Hospital
- Chapter 20 Adult Mental Health Services
- Index
- References
Summary
Psychosis is characterized by distortions in thinking (e.g. fixed, false beliefs), in perception (e.g. hearing voices or less commonly seeing things that are not there), emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour. Although it used to be thought that schizophrenia was a discrete entity, much recent evidence has shown that this is not so. Schizophrenia does not have clear boundaries; rather, it merges into schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder on the one hand and into schizotypal and paranoid personality on the other. It is best considered as the severe form of psychosis. The different psychotic disorders share some of the same risk factors and are sometimes associated with cognitive impairments, co-existing mental health conditions, substance misuse and physical health problems; the latter often develop over the course of the illness.
In this chapter, we review genetic and then environmental risk factors for psychosis. Much knowledge has accumulated regarding both in the last two decades. We now know that the aetiology of psychosis is multifactorial. Genetic and environmental factors occasionally act alone but usually in combination as well as operate at a number of levels and over time to influence an individual’s likelihood of developing psychotic symptoms.
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- Seminars in General Adult Psychiatry , pp. 224 - 240Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024