Diathesis stress approach

Imagine yourself in May having just completed a part c question on psychological or medical explanations of abnormality.  You have stated the pros and cons of each and have a  minute or so left for that all important concluding last paragraph designed to impress via the recency effect.  This is what you use!!!

Is psychological illness due to genes or psychological reasons?  Easy: both!

Diathesis refers to the genetic predisposition to develop a particular disorder.  If your parents suffer from schizophrenia then research suggests that offspring are also most likely to get it too.  However there is still only a 17%, meaning that 83% of offspring of schizophrenics won’t! 

Stress refers to the environmental factors such as family situation, learning, cognitive biases and negative schemas, childhood experience or viral infection that may then trigger the disorder. 

But the key factor is that it takes both!  This can also explain why if one twin gets schizophrenia there is only a 42% chance that their identical sibling will also develop it.

In your conclusion emphasise the importance of both medical and psychological components of all mental disorders (with the possible exception of some phobias).