Interactionist approach to treat SZ

Interactionist approach

Acknowledging there is a range of factors from biological to psychological causing development of SZ

Interactionist treatment

Combine biological and psychological therapies, most commonly antipsychotics and CBT

NICE guidelines for SZ testament

All patients should have drug treatment, CBT and family therapy available to them

Why should diathesis stress be adopted for SZ treatment

If patient has severe SZ symptoms they might not be able to engage with therapy fully, so they need drugs to alleviate their symptoms first before they can engage fully

Tarrier study

Patients in 2 combination groups showed lower symptoms following trial compared to medication only group

Show clear practical advantage to adopting an interactionist approach to SZ leading to superior treatment outcomes

Tienari research

Child rearing style with high levels of criticism and conflict and low empathy as a risk factor for SZ only in children with genetic risk and not in control group

It is interaction of genes and environment leading to SZ as neither on their own were a risk factor

Complexity of diathesis and stress

Stress can be biological as well as psychological, diathesis also influenced by psychological factors

Houston found that child sexual abuse emerged as the major influence on underlying vulnerability to SZ, cannabis use as the major trigger

Multiple factors both biological and psychological affecting both diathesis and stress, supporting a more modern and complex understanding of diathesis and stress