Today it appears to be common knowledge that mental illnesses are not caused by maternal parenting, yet this wasn’t well established until a generation or two ago. Many consider such beliefs to be of the most damaging theories against women in the world of neuroscience, psychology, and mental health. As a sign of the times, these harmful, sexist beliefs were conceived by men citing miniscule observations. In 1934 a singular study reported on 45 mothers whose children were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Of these 45, 33 mothers were described as “overprotective” and 2 were described as having “rejected” their child. It is from this singular study with very weak correlative observations of overly protective and rejecting mothers that psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann asserted that mothers who employ such behaviors and tendencies cause the development of schizophrenia in their children. Dr. Fromm-Reichmann labeled these “rejecting and overprotective” mothers schizophrenogenic. In 1943, psychiatrist Leo Kanner first described early infantile autism where symptoms are present within the first two years of a child’s life. In this publication, Dr. Kanner encouraged further investigation into the causality of emotionally cold mothers–what became termed “refrigerator moms”–in the development etiology of autism. Both psychiatrist’s ill-supported claims catapulted the field into decades of misguided research, poor treatment, miniscule support, and sexism. Regardless of education and/or medical training, people believed that specific maternal parenting choices and abilities directly caused the children raised in such environments to develop schizophrenia or autism. These studies and observations would not stand the scientific rigors of today as both psychiatrists failed to utilize controls, failed to consider the relevance of a couple of observations, and failed to understand the differences between correlation–even when very weak–and causation. Ultimately, these mistakes led doctors to grossly misinterpret the generalizability of their “findings.”
However, medical “science” at the time was abjectly wrong, and the exact long-term negative effects of such poor medical practice and scientific research have been hard to quantify. Experts can only project what could have been better and different as this was the current state for decades. Other perspectives of these conditions were not accepted and often ridiculed. There are anecdotal data describing mothers who felt deep pain, sadness, guilt, and shame as they were the “cause” of their child’s condition. Furthermore, and especially in the mid 1900s caring for children with autism or schizophrenia required extra efforts, finances, and time which only added to the burden of guilt these mothers felt. Many mothers also reported feeling deep anguish and resentment towards psychiatrists who made them feel at fault, and often these were the same doctors treating and caring for mothers’ kids. Anthropologist and author Charles King said, “If a Martian anthropologist came down and looked at American psychology or the broader social sciences in the 1950s, it would not be a surprise to them to know that the mothers got blamed.” The sexism in both cases of the schizophrenic mothers and refrigerator mothers is clear; only moms received blame, not fathers.
Both theories have lasting effects still seen today that reach beyond the mother and to the entire family system. Many researchers actively seek to uncover how the complexities of environment affect all types of diseases, conditions, and disorders including mental health. As with education, homelife, specifically the compliance of parents, is critical for the treatment of mental illness; however, some researchers still find that intervening in these interactions between parents and children is nuanced and protected. Physicians often report difficulties having simple conversations about homelife when parenting and treatment compliance are being discussed as described by Josephine Johnston in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics. Johnston urges that we can no longer overlook how these lasting effects of blaming mothers has closed off families from necessary medical direction for the care of children, especially those with neuropsychiatric conditions.
These theories remained until the growth in biological science research allowed for a more accurate understanding of these two conditions in the 1960-70s. Yet, about 10 years went by before the field accepted their mistakes, admitted they were wrong, and allowed for improvements and advancements in how individuals with autism or schizophrenia as well as their mothers and families were treated. Thankfully, the field now understands that both autism and schizophrenia have many components underpinning their respective etiologies or sets of causes. This has allowed research to drive past mother blaming and pursue real answers that account for the biological underpinnings, psychogenic stressors, and environmental factors to improve the diagnostics and treatments as well as the support provided to individuals with neuropsychiatric conditions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8710699/
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/ghost-schizophrenogenic-mother/2013-09
https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/early-infantile-autism-and-refrigerator-mother-theory-1943-1970
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60546-7/fulltext
King Lab at Creighton University 