Schizophrenia and poverty

Poverty is even more strongly related to schizophrenia and psychosis than to other mental disorders (Read, 2004). British children raised in economic deprivation are four times more likely to develop nonschizophrenic disorders, but are eight times more likely to grow up to be schizophrenic. Even among those with no family history of psychosis, deprived children are seven times more likely to develop schizophrenia, suggesting genetic predisposition to developing schizophrenia is not the whole story (Harrison et al, 2001). Similarly, the relationship between urban living and schizophrenia remains after controlling for family history of psychiatric disorder (Lewis et al 1992, Mortensen et al, 1999).