Can Guilt Cause Schizophrenia?

[Castiel]

I am doing a research paper in my Psychology class right now about Schizophrenia. I had never thought about it before but, could guilt be a cause of schizophrenia? One of the examples I am using in my paper is the movie "Shutter Island." For those of you who have seen it, the main character (Leonardo DiCaprio) feels so guilty for what he did that he goes insane. But would this just be insanity, or did schizophrenia actually develop from his guilt?

Generally, when someone does something wrong and they feel guilty, it is often depicted as them feeling so terrible that they imagine things. We would consider that "going crazy." But once they release the guilt that they are feeling, these things they are imagining go away. Could that be a minor form of schizophrenia or is it just side effects from having so much guilt?

Sometimes people are born with a pre-disposition to schizophrenia, but their schizophrenia doesn't actually "come out" until something activates it. Does one HAVE to be born with a pre-disposition to schizophrenia or can schizophrenia develop purely from guilt?

These are all questions I just thought of and am now wondering about. I know there is no known single cause for schizophrenia, but I'm just wondering how big of a role guilt may play.

 

[chavosaur]

Well, as I'm sure you know, Schizo isn't just voices in the head type Biz. I took Psych and AP Psych, and from what I learned in there, I do not think guilt itself can lead to it. It could have more to do with the stresses you were talking about, and if there is a extremely high level of stress, it can lead to Schizo SYMPTOMS, But I do not believe it brings on any form of Schizo. I have a Psych college textbook that i can look into for you, and repost after checking a little more, but thats just my 2 cents right now.

 

[Castiel]

Well, as I'm sure you know, Schizo isn't just voices in the head type Biz.

That's why I chose Shutter Island. He not only hears voices in his head, he imagines a whole new reality for himself (although, that may also be partially due to dissociative amnesia).

 

[Deleted member 194275]

the answer is YES, but it is not that simple. Schizophrenia may be a result of many factors, among then are the psychological influences, on this "psychological influences" is usual to see many factors acting at same time like depression, stress, anxiety. So guilt may be part of the problem, but it is hard to imagine that guilt itself, without other factors, will cause Schizophrenia.

 

[BORTZ]

Your mind is a pretty moldable thing. If you put it through enough of anything, you can start creating coping mechanisims to keep you alive. Some of those CMs are pretty scary.

 

[Castiel]

the answer is YES, but it is not that simple. Schizophrenia may be a result of many factors, among then are the psychological influences, on this "psychological influences" is usual to see many factors acting at same time like depression, stress, anxiety. So guilt may be part of the problem, but it is hard to imagine that guilt itself, without other factors, will cause Schizophrenia.

Couldn't these all be symptoms of guilt though? Or am I looking at something the wrong way?

 

[Clydefrosch]

are you really using a movie as an example for your research paper?

why dont you just read up on the existing literature on guilt and schizophrenia and see if there are any links that would be reason enough to start some kind of investigation?

not having done any of that myself however, i would imagine guilt would cause many more things a lot more commonly. so chances are, if guilt could trigger schizophrenia, it would probably do so only in very very little cases, and probably only together with lots of other factors.

 

[Castiel]

are you really using a movie as an example for your research paper?

Yes. I was told to by my teacher. Shutter Island was one of the movies on the list of movies she gave us. I'm not only using the movie, though. I'm also using peer-reviewed articles, literature, etc. We were suppose to watch the movie and then use different sources to see how accurately the movie portrays the psychological disorder.

 

[Clydefrosch]

ahh, so that makes a lot more sense now.

oh well, not knowing shutter island either, i can still guess that guilt as the trigger will probably be less common and most likely, hardly researched if at all. it probably just makes for a better story.
you should probably concentrate on the symptoms part of the movie though.
chances are they either researched the disorder thoroughly like they should, or that they took the common peoples idea of the disorder and just made up a few things to make the story progression easier and allow for more mindblowing twists.

anyway, good luck