Freudian Theory (individual differences) of sch

• Oral stage


  Libido receives satisfaction/gratification from the mouth, commonly from the mother's breastfeeding
• Oral fixation


  • Receiving too much or too little oral stimulation during the oral stage
• Regression to oral stage

  1. Individual with schizophrenia and oral fixation encounters excessive stress

  2. Regresses back to oral stage as ego defense mechanism

  3. Becomes like a newborn again

  4. May be temporary or long-term
• Regression


  • Loss of all attachments other than those focused on the self
  • Individual becomes disengaged from the outside world, with an entirely inward focus
• Schizophrenia symptoms from regression

  • Detachment from reality
  • Active mind leads to creation of alternative realities
  • Ego is non-existent, so id's wish fulfillments lead to self-obsessed, narcissistic symptoms such as delusions of grandeur or persecution
• Schizophrenogenic mother


  • Overprotective and controlling, but at the same time rejecting and distant
  • Overprotection stifles the child's emotional development
  • Emotional distance deprives the child of personal security
  • Leads to an individual who is very vulnerable when faced with stress
• Freud's theories have some explanatory power for symptoms of schizophrenia like delusions of grandeur/persecution from regression as an ego defense mechanism
• Freud's theories are unscientific and untestable as they rely on his tripartite personality, unconscious mind and childhood experiences assumptions which have no scientific basis
• Research on schizophrenogenic mother theory

  • Study on 45 schizophrenics found maternal rejection in 2 patients and maternal overprotection in 33
  • Suggests overprotection is the most significant quality of the schizophrenogenic mother
• Research on 45 schizophrenics has flaws like using interviews which are open to subjectivity, reducing internal and external validity
• Even if there is a relationship between schizophrenic mother and child, the cause and effect is not clear