Date of Award
1962
Document Type
Senior Scholars Paper (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Psychology Dept.
Advisor(s)
Evans B. Reid
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a disease whose physical cause is unknown despite the attempts of several research teams to discover a physical basis for it. Some success has been gained in genetic studies which indicate that schizophrenia is an inherited disability. However, since research tools are at present so sadly inadequate, the value of pursuing a genetic line of reasoning is questionable. To compensate for the lack of biochemical certainties in treating mental illness, psychological theories have been constructed to explain the schizophrenia syndrome. Normal personality is seen as the resultant of environmental and inherited influences. Involved in the formation of personality are the processes of differentiation and integration, maturation of inherited traits, and the learning processes. As personality develops. consciousness of the self, inferiority feelings, and compensatory mechanisms, and the transformation of interests into drives exert a decided influence upon personality growth. Finally, in the mature personality, an integrating philosophy of life, a large variety of interests, and the possibility of self-objectification become evident.
Keywords
Schizophrenia
Recommended Citation
MacPherson, Bruce, "Psychological and biochemical mechanisms of schizoprenia" (1962). Senior Scholar Papers. Paper 162.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/seniorscholars/162
Copyright
Colby College theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed or downloaded from this site for the purposes of research and scholarship. Reproduction or distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the author.