Schizophrenia: An Evolutionary Advance

INTRODUCTION Huxley, Mayr, Osmond, and Hoffer (1964) presented a hypothesis that schizophrenia is a genetic morphism (see Huxley, 1955). This is in general agreement with the proposition that all genetic characteristics which exist in a population at a frequency higher than can be maintained by mutation alone must be a morphism. The frequency of the morphic gene is the result of a balance between its selectively favorable and unfavorable properties. An advantage of a morphism is that it allows populations depleted by natural difficulties or disasters to reproduce rapidly when environmental conditions become favorable. A condition which remains a genetic morphism for a long time could eventually become universal if there was a major shift in factors favoring such a development. Hypoascorbemia (Stone, 1965, 1966) may originally have been a genetic morphism, but today after many million years no man can synthesize ascorbic acid and everyone has the Orthomolecular condition hypoascorbemia.