How is mental illness created?

The Month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The more neuroscience discovers about brain processing, the more the community is able to understand behaviors. Mental health issues are prevalent in our society and are sometimes linked to violent and unpredictable behavior. The more informed the community is about mental health issues, the more they will be able to help rather than fear it.

“An estimated 26.2% of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.” Many adult disorders start in their youth. Almost 10% of teenagers (13-18) meet criteria for serious emotional disturbance including but not limited to depression, eating disorders, autism, anxiety, ADHD, and post traumatic stress disorder based on the DSM IV-TR. Based on the 2012 study, girls were more likely to have emotional issues such as depression and anxiety while boys were more likely to have behavioral problems like those associated with ADHD.

Many influences in our culture promote mental illness as a character flaw. One suicidal teenager recently told me “My dad tells me to stop being stupid.” There is this idea if a person just tries hard enough and makes all the right choices, mental illness will be avoidable. “Aren’t most mental issues self-created?” I was asked recently by a respected business man. While motivation and choices do play a part of treatment, a ‘pulling yourself up by the bootstraps’ mentality or blame will not cure mental illness. Rather it increases shame creating an additional barrier to treatment.

Most counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists agree on two primary explanations for mental illness.

1.)    Genetic—just as we inherit coloring and facial features from our family linage so do inherit predispositions for many disorders such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depression, autism, and schizophrenia. Just as doctors request family history for illnesses like heart disease and breast cancer, the family mental health history is just as important in screening for mental health disorders.

2.)    Circumstances—Ongoing abuse, trauma, loss, isolation, and recurrent environmental stressors can trigger mental health illness. The intensity and duration of a situation play directly into the human reaction.  “It is sometime an appropriate response to reality to go insane.” (Phillip Dick) As humans we can only handle so much for so long without help. Take the example of holding out a cup of water. For awhile a person can hold the cup out successfully without it interfering or bothering or bothering he/she. But, if they are expected to hold it out for hours there will be pain and at some point arms will collapse unless support is given. The inability to hold the cup out for long periods of time is not a weakness of character but a limitation as a human being. The same is true cognitively and emotionally. We can only handle so much for so long.

For some, mental illness may be a life long disorder such as asthma or diabetes needing ongoing counseling and/or medication. For others, mental health illness will be a season of life if they are able to gain the tools they need to stabilize. For teenagers, effective treatment encouraged family involvement. Like having the flu or chickenpox, with the right support, mental illness can be treated successfully.