ABSTRACT
The research reveals that stress can trigger episodes of schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia are more likely to report a stressful life event preceding an episode of illness than during a period of remission. Similarly, stressful events are more likely to occur prior to an episode of schizophrenia than in the same time period for people drawn from the general population (Rabkin, 1982). For example, in a study from London, 46 per cent of a group of people with schizophrenia experienced a life event that was independent of their own actions in the three weeks before an episode of illness (including, in some cases, the first episode of illness), compared to only 12 per cent of healthy population controls (Brown and Birley, 1968). It appears that stress can precipitate episodes of illness in people who suffer from schizophrenia and that, although stress does not cause the illness, it can influence the timing of the first episode of schizophrenia.
