Mental illness covers a wide variety of disorders, from schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer's, anxiety and self-harm to eating disorders.
These disorders can be the outcome of many different kinds of experiences in a person's life, from early childhood to later life events. Some examples:
chaotic,
unsafe or dangerous
environments (for
example, living in a
violent
home, or living in a house with
shedding
asbestos, peeling
lead
paint, or
toxic
drinking water)
early
life serious losses or traumas
(such
as the death of a parent in childhood,
or
being abused or neglected)
loss
of social support (due to death of a
loved
one, divorce, moving away from
friends
and family, break up of a relationship,
loss
of a job, or loss of trust)
unhealthy
social conditions (such as
poverty,
homelessness, and community
violence)
experiences
that undermine self-
confidence (such
as social or work-related
failures)
learned
helplessness and negative thought
patterns (chronic
or repeated stressful events leading
to
the belief of helplessness, reinforced by lack of control
over
the situation)
chronic
illness (such as heart disease, stroke, HIV,
Parkinson's,
cancer, or diabetes) that seriously restrict
activity
side
effects of medications (for example, blood
pressure
medications and numerous other drugs)
hormonal
changes (stage of life adjustments, such
as
the onset or end of menstruation that affect mood)
substance
abuse: alcohol and some drugs are known
to
have depressive effects, and the negative social and
personal
consequences of substance abuse can also
be
a
contributing factor to depression (however, it is not
clear
which comes first – depression and attempts to
control
it with substances, or the use of substances that
then
cause depression)
genetic
causes: people with close family members
who
suffer from depression are more prone to depression
(however,
since no gene for depression has been
found,
this
may be environmental rather than genetic)
biochemical
causes (an imbalance of neurotransmitters
such
as serotonin is known to affect the processing of
thoughts
and emotions)
"Hope is necessary in every condition."
Samuel Johnson
1709-1784
|