Psychiatry theories, schizophrenia

Historically, the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the United States has been based on bleulerian and psychoanalytic theory, partly due to the greater influence of the latter group in the 1950 s and 1960 s. In contrast, European psychiatry used a narrower set of diagnostic criteria, similar to Kraepelin s approach. 

Kallmann FJ. The genetic theory of schizophrenia. An analysis of 691 twin index families. Am J Psychiatry 1946 103 309-322. 

Buckley P, Thompson P, Way L, et al. Substance abuse among patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia characteristics and implications for clozapine theory. Am J Psychiatry 1994 151 385-389. 

Brune M. 2005. Emotion recognition, theory of mind, and social behavior in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 133 135-147. 

Gram doses of nicotinamide have been used in so-called orthomolecular psychiatry as a treatment for schizophrenia, originally because of the similarities between schizophrema and the depressive psychosis of pellagra. The underlying rationale for this use is that such high doses of niacin may deplete methyl donors, and at least one of the theories of the biochemical basis of schizophrenia was that the condition is caused by inappropriate methylation of neurotransmitter metabolites to yield psychotogenic compounds (Hoffer et al., 1957). There is no independent confirmation of the efficacy of nicotinamide in the treatment of schizophrenia. 

There are currently two dominant theories as to the etiology of schizophrenia. The most popular postulates abnormal neurotransmitter receptor function within the brain and, to a large extent, concentrates on studying dopamine and serotonin. Although this theory still provides psychiatry with its best tools for dealing with psychosis, namely medications, it has proved sterile ground for developing radical new treatment approaches. 

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