Vulnerability: A new view of schizophrenia

Reviews the 6 approaches to etiology that now preempt the field--ecological, developmental, learning, genetic, internal environment, and neurophysiological models--and proposes a 2nd-order model, vulnerability, as the common denominator. Methods are suggested for finding markers of vulnerability in the hope of revitalizing the field. It is assumed that exogenous and/or endogenous challengers elicit a crisis in all humans, but depending on the intensity of the elicited stress and the threshold for tolerating it (i.e., one's vulnerability), the crisis will either be contained homeostatically or lead to an episode of disorder. Vulnerability and episode stand in a trait-state relation, and markers for each must be provided to distinguish between them. (83 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).