RELATIVES BELIEFS ABOUT THE CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Based on a representative survey among the members of German and Austr ian associations of relatives of mentally ill people, this paper exami nes the beliefs commonly held by relatives of persons suffering from s chizophrenia concerning the causes of this disorder. A comparison of t he information gathered in the course of this survey with the results of a representative survey conducted among the general public in Germa ny shows that relatives will usually look to biological factors when s earching for the cause of schizophrenia, while the general public tend s to cite psychosocial factors, especially stress-related factors, in order to explain the development of this illness. We attribute this di screpancy to relatives' greater exposure to the knowledge of psychiatr ic experts as well as their having to deal with their own feelings of guilt.