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    Diathesis Stress Model

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    Indrashis Mandal
    The document discusses the diathesis-stress model, which explains why some people develop psychological disorders after experiencing stress while others do not. The model proposes that a person's predisposition, or diathesis, such as genetic or environmental factors, can interact with stressful life events to trigger mental illness. Stress is more likely to cause illness in someone predisposed to it. The diathesis-stress model is also called the dual risk model because stress plays two roles - it can increase a person's underlying vulnerability early in life and later act as a precipitating factor that causes onset of a disorder.

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    Diathesis Stress Model

    Uploaded by

    Indrashis Mandal
    32 views3 pages
    The document discusses the diathesis-stress model, which explains why some people develop psychological disorders after experiencing stress while others do not. The model proposes that a person's predisposition, or diathesis, such as genetic or environmental factors, can interact with stressful life events to trigger mental illness. Stress is more likely to cause illness in someone predisposed to it. The diathesis-stress model is also called the dual risk model because stress plays two roles - it can increase a person's underlying vulnerability early in life and later act as a precipitating factor that causes onset of a disorder.

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    The document discusses the diathesis-stress model, which explains why some people develop psychological disorders after experiencing stress while others do not. The model proposes that a person's predisposition, or diathesis, such as genetic or environmental factors, can interact with stressful life events to trigger mental illness. Stress is more likely to cause illness in someone predisposed to it. The diathesis-stress model is also called the dual risk model because stress plays two roles - it can increase a person's underlying vulnerability early in life and later act as a precipitating factor that causes onset of a disorder.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    32 views3 pages

    Diathesis Stress Model

    Uploaded by

    Indrashis Mandal
    The document discusses the diathesis-stress model, which explains why some people develop psychological disorders after experiencing stress while others do not. The model proposes that a person's predisposition, or diathesis, such as genetic or environmental factors, can interact with stressful life events to trigger mental illness. Stress is more likely to cause illness in someone predisposed to it. The diathesis-stress model is also called the dual risk model because stress plays two roles - it can increase a person's underlying vulnerability early in life and later act as a precipitating factor that causes onset of a disorder.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Although stress is an inevitable part of a person’s life, it has different effects on

    different people. Some people develop psychological disorders after being


    exposed to major environmental stressors, while others do not.
    Scientists have been trying to find out and explain what causes this difference in
    outcomes. The diathesis-stress model is one explanation based on scientific
    understanding.

    THE DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL


    The diathesis-stress model describes how the interaction of predisposition
    (diathesis) and stressful situations (stress) can trigger physical or mental health
    disorders. It is also known as the stress-vulnerability model or stress-diathesis
    model.
    Diathesis is a person’s predisposition or vulnerability to a medical condition,
    which can be a psychological or physical disorder. This terminology was first
    used in psychiatry in the study of schizophrenia, and later depression.
    This predisposition can be inherited genetically, created by environmental
    stressors early in life, or caused by the genetics × environment interaction
    (GxE).
    According to the diathesis-stress theory, stress is more likely to lead to physical
    or mental illnesses in someone predisposed to it as opposed to someone without
    the disposition.

    THE DUAL RISK MODEL


    The diathesis-stress model is also known as the dual risk model because stress
    is a risk factor that has two roles here.
    Certain environmental risk factors may increase a person’s predisposition in
    early life. This early life experience can lower an individual’s threshold for
    developing mental disorders, and allow subsequent stressors to trigger the
    disorders more easily.
    Examples of risk factors include punitive parenting, childhood maltreatment,
    physical or sexual abuse, and young girls.
    Stress, therefore, plays a dual role:
    • Early stress exerts a formative influence on children increasing their
    underlying vulnerability to psychological disorders.
    • Later stress exerts a precipitating or triggering influence by activating the
    actual onset of the disorders.

    DIATHESIS CAN CAUSE STRESS


    One possible interaction between diathesis and stress is that the underlying
    predisposition may cause or affect the experience of stress. That is, having
    certain vulnerabilities may increase one’s likelihood of incurring a high level of
    stress.
    For instance, a genetic vulnerability may cause a person to cope with life in a
    way that creates a stressor that normal people without the trait will not
    experience.
    This bidirectional influence can be seen in some individuals predisposed to
    depressive symptoms. These individuals may exhibit irritability, fatigue, and
    social withdrawal. These symptoms can cause problems in their interpersonal
    relationships and employment. If those problems end up causing the loss of a
    close relationship or job, then those experiences become the stressors that
    catalyze the onset of major depressive disorder.
    In this scenario, stress is not just a random event, but the consequence of having
    a vulnerability.
    Another type of interaction is that vulnerabilities can alter a person’s perception
    of stress.
    For example, a vulnerable person may perceive an ordinary experience as a
    highly stressful event. The vulnerabilities essentially cause high levels of
    psychological distress.

    STRESS CAN CAUSE DIATHESIS


    In the depression scar hypothesis, the first episode of a person’s major
    depression may cause them to form negative thinking patterns. These new
    thinking patterns then become the vulnerability and lead to later episodes of
    depression when further stressful events are encountered.
    In recent years, scientists have found another pathway for stressful events to
    create a biological vulnerability. They found that some environmental factors
    can modify gene expression through epigenetic processes. Such modifications
    are independent of the genetic makeup of a person.

    DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL AND PARENTING


    The diathesis stress theory consolidates existing research on parenting proving
    that parenting matters. Lack of parental emotional support, authoritarian
    parenting, and domestic violence are among the risk factors that can lead to
    vulnerabilities in children. Children who grew up under these conditions are at a
    high risk of depression and other serious mental illness.

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