Psychology Schizophrenia essay. 16 marker - 'Discuss the biological explanation of Schizophrenia'. Scored 15/16. For the AQA Psychology A-level course.
‘Discuss the biological explanations for schizophrenia’ (16 marks)
The biological explanation of Schizophrenia operates on the argument that the disorder is caused by
our internal make up, which is then split into the genetic and neurochemical aspect. The genetic aspect
of the biological approach states that Schizophrenia is caused by candidate genes which predispose
people to developing the disorder. Moreover, it argues that it’s also polygenic, meaning multiple faulty
genes can be responsible for the development of Schizophrenia, particularly the PCM1 gene. As well
has being caused by multiple different genes, Schizophrenia can also be caused by different
combinations of genes, making it aetiologically heterogeneous.
Moreover, the neurochemical aspect of the biological approach argues that Schizophrenia is caused by
an imbalance of neurotransmitters (specifically dopamine) and operates on the dopamine hypothesis.
The original hypothesis states that Schizophrenia is caused by an excess of dopamine in the central
cortex of the brain (hyperdopaminergia), whilst the modern hypothesis states that Schizophrenia is
caused by a lack of dopamine in the subcortexes of the brain (hypodopaminergia).
A strength of the biological explanation of Schizophrenia is that there’s research support for the role
of genes. Twin studies have shown that when looking at Schizophrenia the concordance rate for MZ
twins is more than twice of the concordance rate for DZ twins. As the differing factor between MZ
and DZ is their level of genetic similarity, this suggests that the more genetically similar you are to
someone with Schizophrenia, the greater the likelihood of you also developing the disorder. This
means that genes have a role in the development of Schizophrenia, which supports the argument that
the biological explanation makes, as it shows how the disorder is caused by internal factors we cannot
control. Thus, this increases the validity of the genetic aspect of the biological explanation of
Schizophrenia and strengthens its argument.
However, a weakness of the biological explanations of Schizophrenia are that they’re reductionist.
This is because they break down the complexity of the mental disorder and reduce it to being caused
simply by genes and neurochemicals. This is a weakness as it fails to take into consideration the
influence of social factors in the development of Schizophrenia. Some theories and research suggest
that dysfunctional families can cause the disorder. One of these is the double bind theory, which
argues that Schizophrenia is caused by children receiving mixed messages of what is right and wrong
from their parents and facing a withdrawal of love when acting incorrectly (e.g. a parent asking their
child for a hug then making a face of disgust). This creates internal conflict within the child as they
become unsure of what is right or wrong, and fear doing the wrong thing, which is linked to the
symptoms of paranoia and delusions. Thus, we can say that the biological explanations of
Schizophrenia are incomplete and reductionist as they don’t take into consideration the role of the
family and social factors.
Finally, another strength of the biological explanations of Schizophrenia is that the Dopamine
hypothesis has practical applications. This is because the antipsychotic drugs used to treat
Schizophrenia operate on this hypothesis. For example, typical antipsychotics like Chlorpromazine act
as ‘dopamine antagonists’, which reduces dopamine levels and activity. The effectiveness of these
antipsychotics has been tested, as when compared against a placebo, Chlorpromazine was found to
have a more significant effect in reducing symptoms of Schizophrenia. This suggests that high levels
of dopamine are the cause of Schizophrenia, as when patients are treated with drugs that operate by
reducing dopamine their symptoms are lessened. Thus, this strengthens the validity of the
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