I think so. I read on the Mad In America site that back in the day, when some psychiatrists tried talking treatments with those labeled "Schizophrenic," they (mostly psychoanalysts, I think...) found a strong element of prolonged terror contributing to the psychosis.

If you look at it...well, "Schizophrenia" isn't exactly the highest quality diagnosis. You can be Schizophrenic if you're agitated and over-emotional, or un(der)-emotional and underactive. Schizophrenia "overlaps" with some forms of Bipolar I (my current, official diagnosis) because Schizophrenia is a very broad diagnosis. I think this is why there are so many different outcomes in "Schizophrenia"; we're not all dealing with the same problem(s), but we have the same label, more or less.

But, yeah...low status, oppression, stigma, and high pressure and terror definitely played a big roll in my own descent into madness. So, I vote "yes" for life causing Schizophrenia, in some people.