Edinburgh Napier University

  The trends that are emerging from the literature point to a relationship between trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress, and schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia are at more risk of being exposed to a number of traumas and are more likely to experience the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is a dose-response relationship between trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and the risk of developing schizophrenia symptoms. There also appears to be a cumulative effect of trauma exposure on the severity of schizophrenia symptoms. Many people with schizophrenia are experiencing comorbid PTSD symptoms as well as the symptoms of schizophrenia; they may also be experiencing more severe and intrusive schizophrenia symptoms as a consequence of trauma exposure and response. The stress vulnerability model offers a dynamic framework to understand the dynamic interplay of biopsychosocial vulnerability factors with trauma/stress responses and the schizophrenia symptoms that develop from this interplay.