Do Schizophrenics Have Too Much Dopamine?

Understanding the causes for any illness, including mental illness, is an important step into forming effective treatment protocols. While no person knows exactly why schizophrenia occurs, there are several bits of evidence that assist us in understanding this disorder. One of the more popular and controversial theories concerns the level of dopamine a person has and its role in the disorder. Understanding all of the elements that create schizophrenia is very important.

Significance

• Dopamine is a very important chemical with regards to physiological functions and behavior. Understanding the role dopamine plays in schizophrenia is important to understanding the illness as a whole.

Antagonistic Drugs

• Many antipsychotic drugs are dopamine antagonists, reducing the level of dopamine in the person. These drugs reduce psychotic symptoms; however, they often cause negative side effects similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease.

Raising Dopamine Levels

• Giving patients drugs that are dopamine agonists tends to cause psychotic symptoms in the person. Drugs for Parkinson's disease can give people schizophrenia-like symptoms.

Drug Contradictions

• Not all drugs that reduce dopamine impact schizophrenia, bringing doubt to the theory. Moreover, dopamine levels are reduced very quickly via drugs; however, it often takes several weeks to get relief from schizophrenia symptoms.

Brain Structure

• Schizophrenia runs in families and has a strong genetic component. Furthermore, many schizophrenics have a noted brain structural difference. While not all have such structural differences, this brings considerations outside of the dopamine theory.