Abstract
Psychotic disorders, among which schizophrenia, belong to the most paralyzing and elusive psychiatric diseases. Although it is assumed that stress plays an important role in the development of psychotic experiences, by far not everyone becomes psychotic after a stressful event. This dissertation studies why one person does and the other doesn’t react psychotically to stress – which mechanisms are involved there? One of the conclusions is that dopamine stress handling in the brains of persons with psychotic vulnerability shows defects – a defect that is partly ‘family-related’, but on the other hand may be stirred up by repeated exposure to radical stressful events.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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| Award date | 27 Jan 2012 |
| Place of Publication | Maastricht |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 9789085707981 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2012 |
Keywords
- psychotic disorder
- schizophrenia
- stress
- dopamine