Hmm, so do you think mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar are caused not only by predispositions but also by the person creating mentally ill thoughts? Because I mean this is only a theory of mine but it seems to me that if you train a child who for instance both of his parents are schizophrenic and you train the child to think properly that his chances of getting the illness would be very small or nonexistent?
Basically I'm asking what role does positive thinking play in the mental health field? For instance if you had 100 children whos parents were all schizophrenic yet you trained each one to think properly and positive and avoid the pitfalls of negative thinking could that potentially benefit them? And if it will benefit them and help them to what extent?
Cause I know there's been twin studies done and you see a set of twins or even quadruplets who have the predisposition and sometimes maybe one of them don't become ill. Have we figured out why that is? Because if they are twins then they lived in the same household so the environment is pretty much the same.
I think it would be interesting actually to see siamese twins and those with the mental illness predispositions and see if every one of the twins gets ill or just one like regular twins.
I think positive thinking plays a relatively minimal role in schizophrenia. It may help a bit with depression, but that's about it. Believing positive thinking is a cure for everything is as reductionistic as is thinking everything happens at the synapse (biological reductionism). In reality things are way way more complex than that, IMHO.
Twin studies definitely exist, and touch on the inherent complexity of mental illness. To be a bit but not fully reductionistic, there's probably a genetic vulnerability, an aspect that stress and other factors activate or deactivate certain genes, and aspects of the illness that perpetuates itself. Then there's further organic factors like drugs which have their own influence. Positive thinking might slightly prevent someone from fully decompensating, but it's doubtful that it would change the underlying nature of the illness.
Historically they used to think psychosis represented the internalization of a chaotic world, so the sanitariums would be in the country in immaculately landscaped scenery. It might have lessened the confinement, but it didn't get rid of the illness.
The real answer is that there's too many factors still we can't quantify. And though lack of evidence is not equivalent to evidence of lack, I know of absolutely
zero evidence that someone strongly predisposed to psychosis could be prevented from this through positive thinking. That being said there is some evidence that those with prodromal psychosis have as much improvement from CBT as they do from medications in terms of prevention development of full schizophrenia. But CBT is not positive thinking.
Mood disorders are another story, and rewarding negativistic thinking I think can perpetuate the condition. Anxiety disorders as well. Check out the book
Somatoform Disorders: A Medicolegal Guide by Michael Trimble, which talks about Railroad spine. In the 19th century apparently during the railroad lines being built there was a shift towards thinking of putting the responsibility on employers for the health of their employees (a novel idea at the time). This led to a condition where workers would get hunched over and it was believed they had injuries and pain from hammering the spikes into the tracks. They of course sued, even though they could never find any actual organic pathology behind the condition. As this proceeded the condition got more and more prevalent, as lawsuits went on. Eventually the railroad industry stopped paying, and guess what -- the condition wasn't heard of again.
I think we should be rewarding recovery in most conditions, or at least efforts in it. Psychosis might be an exception, though. Many mood and anxiety disorders should be treatable if the individual is engaged in trying to get better, but if they have an incentive to stay sick, they'll only want to get better enough to survive, but still get their incentives. Tough and complex, and there isn't an easy answer. I'm not saying there is, by any means. But I see way too many patients who want disability not because they're permanently disabled but because it eases their life, taking away the responsibility to seek out work. It discourages the hell out of me as a clinician.
