ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes experimental evidence that seems to support the etiological and pathogenic complex model for schizophrenia. It also cites research that has been carried out at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Catania. The medical model, because of its success in the treatment and prophylaxis of numerous, especially, infectious diseases, has developed within an interpretive framework that has become progressively generalized and dominant in contemporary biological and reductionistic medicine. Regarding psychiatry, however, a complex approach to the etiology and pathogenesis of the different psychiatric disorders has been proposed. Understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of schizophrenia, just as in any illness, constitutes a key passage for the development of treatment protocols and effective prevention. Among the numerous theories that have tried to explain the etiology of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, those that affirm the family's fundamental role in the patient's condition have long had an important place in psychoanalysis.
