Can Child Trauma Cause Schizophrenia?
Nobody knows for certain. But it is generally understood that schizophrenia is caused by a trait someone is born with. Sometimes the disorder doesn’t develop until the individual has a traumatic event, but the trait had to be there in the first place. Some people develop Schizophrenia without having any known family history, though. They don’t have to have a family history to have the trait. The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) does not indicate that Schizophrenia can be caused by trauma by itself.
