Schizophrenia and our Biological Clocks

The origin of mental illnesses has proven elusive, but the more scientists study the brain, the closer they come to understanding what's going on. That's because whether the mind is working correctly or not depends upon the functioning of the physical brain. When was the last time any religion ever provided solid data to help us understand or treat a mental illness?

According to recent research, schizophrenia might have a lot to do with a person's brain's clock working badly.

People with the illness often complain of sleeping difficulties, and last month a study of 20 people with schizophrenia confirmed that sleep disruption is common and not down to their medication or lifestyle...

The mouse findings are particularly interesting because several other illnesses associated with disrupted body clocks as a result of shift work, are also particularly common in people with schizophrenia, says Lance Kriegsfeld of the University of California, Berkeley. These include cardiovascular disease, adult-onset diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.

"The similarity between the illnesses seen in schizophrenic patients and those with disrupted circadian timing suggests that circadian dysregulation contributes significantly to their [cause]," says Kriegsfeld. "The findings suggest that development of therapeutic agents designed to normalise SCN signalling in schizophrenic patients may go a long way in improving their quality of life and longevity."

Source: New Scientist, 28 January 2012

I'm sure that treatments for mental illnesses won't generally come down to simple causes, but I also wouldn't be surprised if a lot of mental illnesses have something relatively simple (and surprising) as part of the mix. Brain chemistry can be delicate and a slight alteration of the wrong thing can lead to a lot of problems. We have enough trouble figuring out problems when the origins are environmental, never mind genetic.

But while progress may be slow, at least their is progress. Every year there are new insights, new information, and new possibilities that can lead to ever better treatments. That's how science works and it's why science is so much more productive than anything else we humans have come up with over the millennia -- including especially religion.