Genetic Vulnerability to Schizophrenia

This graph, based on combined data from 40 European twin and adoption studies conducted over seven decades, shows that the closer the genetic relationship to a person with schizophrenia, the higher the risk of developing the disorder. (Based on Gottesman, 1991; see also Gottesman et al., 2010.)

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder and there is no simple answer to the question of what causes it. However, schizophrenia is caused by a combination of inherited vulnerabilities, environmental factors and life stressors.

Schizophrenia is known as a psychotic disorder, characterized by patients who lose touch with reality. It's more common in men than in women and tends to develop in men at an earlier age, between 20 and 28, while in women it typically develops between the ages of 26 and 32. Reasons for this gender difference in onset, as well as in brain structure and response to treatment, are not well understood.