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There have been many theories about Causes of psychiatric disorders. Most mainstream thought in the fields of psychiatry, neurobiology and related specialties considers each disease to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such that genetic vulnerabilities and environmental stressors combine to cause patterns of dysfunction and the suffering. Many psychiatric diseases can be classified as syndromes, consistent groups of symptoms that do not always have a single cause. Psychiatry is a medical speciality whose primary goal is the treatment of mental illness. ...
Neurobiology is a branch of biology that is involved in the study of nervous systems of all animals from a biological and evolutionary perspective. ...
In medicine, the term syndrome is the association of several clinically recognizable features, signs, symptoms, phenomena or characteristics which often occur together, so that the presence of one feature alerts the physician to the presence of the others. ...
Diseases from physical trauma
Physical causes of psychiatric illness can include major brain trauma, accidental head injury, metabolic or infectious disturbances of the brain, and drug use, such as alcohol and narcotics.
In addition, certain kinds of toxic substances, such as heavy metals, can induce psychiatric disorders. Many illnesses that are not usually classified as mental illnesses that can have psychiatric side effects, whether it is depression associated with strokes or as AIDS-related psychosis. Immediate effects have been conclusively traced to these causes. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with...
There are two important historical examples of psychiatric illnesses traceable to immediate and well-understood physical causes. General paresis of the insane is known to be caused by advanced syphilis and pellagrous insanity is caused by niacin deficiency. When psychiatric symptoms result from a known cause that can be treated, the treatment is usually provided by a general practioner or specialist in that field. Often, psychiatric symptoms are caused by medical illnesses, which is one reason why psychiatrists need medical training. General paresis, also known as general paralysis of the insane or paralytic dementia, is a now-rare neuropsychiatric disorder affecting the brain and central nervous system. ...
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a spirochaete bacterium, Treponema pallidum. ...
Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease caused by dietary lack of niacin and protein, especially the essential amino acid tryptophan. ...
Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin whose derivatives such as NADH, NAD, NAD+, and NADP play essential roles in energy metabolism in the living cell and DNA repair. ...
There are psychiatric problems that are related to heavy exposure to chemical causes, such as amphetamine psychosis, and lead poisoning, which can result in mental retardation. Again, these are often treated by specialists in the field of neurology. Amphetamine is a synthetic drug originally developed (and still used) as an appetite suppressant. ...
Lead poisoning is a medical condition, also known as saturnism, plumbism or painters colic, caused by increased blood serum lead levels. ...
Mental retardation (also called mental handicap[1] and, as defined by the UK Mental Health Act 1983, mental impairment and severe mental impairment[2]) is a term for a pattern of persistently slow learning of basic motor and language skills (milestones) during childhood, and a significantly below-normal global intellectual...
Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system. ...
Finally, there are diseases related to immediate head trauma. Bleeding inside the skull can put pressure on the brain, which can result in any number of symptoms, including paralysis, depression, and psychosis. A hippopotamus skull A skull, or cranium, is a bony structure of Craniates which serves as the general framework for a head. ...
Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ...
Sadness redirects here. ...
Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state in which thought and perception are severely impaired. ...
Environmental and Genetic causes For disorders such as depression, causation is still somewhat controversial, with different proponents suggesting genetic, psychological, sociological or neurological causes. Many researchers suggest an "integrative" or biopsychosocial approach or a diathesis-stress model. The most widely-promoted biomedical theory is that subtle, possibly hereditary, disturbances in brain chemistry cause depression, although the role of cortical hormones in neuron development is beginning to supplant this among researchers. Some suggestive evidence for a "chemical imbalance theory" is a statistical correlation between brain chemistry and particular symptoms[citation needed]. In addition, many studies looking for genetic roots to mental illness, have found statistical links showing that certain mental illnesses seem to run in families. Some controversy exists over whether this is due to genetics, or simply from being raised by or with someone who is mentally ill, but evidence from studies examining siblings, especially twins, who were raised separately, seems to indicate strong genetic factors. However, such findings are not always replicated. Further evidence is the apparent success of medical treatment (such as the use of Prozac and other selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs)), which often results in both changes in brain chemistry and alleviation of symptoms. On the other hand, some studies have found that placebos are equally effective, but it should be noted that placebo effects tend to disappear over time in many patients[citation needed], and that the placebo effect also exists in treatments for diseases like cancer. Clinical depression is a state of sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ...
The biopsychosocial model of medicine is a way of looking at the mind and body of a patient as two important systems that are interlinked. ...
The Diathesis-stress model is a psychological theory that explains behavior as both a result of biological and genetic factors (nature), and life experiences (nurture). This theory is often used to describe the pronunciation of mental disorders, like schizophrenia, that are produced by the interaction of a vulnerable hereditary predisposition...
The biomedical model of medicine, has been around for centuries as the predominant model used by physicians in the diagnosis of disease. ...
Clinical depression is a state of sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ...
Chemical imbalance is a term sometimes used by drug companies [1] in the United States in advertising and consumer literature for psychoactive drugs after the deregulation of pharmaceutical advertising. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Fraternal twin boys in the tub Twins in animal biology is a case of multiple birth in which the mother gives birth to two offspring from the same pregnancy. ...
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of antidepressants. ...
A placebo, from the Latin for I will please, is a medical treatment (operation, therapy, chemical solution, pill, etc. ...
When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ...
Traditionally various things such as stress, upbringing, and other "environmental" causes have been blamed for psychiatric illness. While such things may influence or induce neurotic illnesses, such as anxiety and depression, there is less evidence that there are non-physical causes for major psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and psychotic depression. However, there is evidence that, even for psychotic disorders, certain environmental factors may play a role not in causing the disease, but in triggering acute symptoms, in the same way that stress does not cause influenza, but it can exacerbate the symptoms. Psychiatric patients often do not cope well with stress, but that does not mean stress causes psychiatric illness. Anxiety refers to a complex combination of negative emotions that includes fear, apprehension and worry, and is often accompanied by physical sensations such as palpitations, nausea, chest pain and/or shortness of breath. ...
Clinical depression is a state of sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ...
Bipolar disorder (previously known as manic depression) is a diagnostic category describing a class of mood disorders where the person experiences states or episodes of depression and/or mania, hypomania, and/or mixed states. ...
Psychotic depression is one of the most severe forms of the general depressive diseases in which the person experiences moments of delusional or paranoid being. ...
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease that infects birds and mammals (primarily of the upper airways and lungs in mammals) and is caused by an RNA virus of the Orthomyxoviridae family (the influenza viruses). ...
For instance, schizophrenia is regarded as an illness with a susceptibility (probably genetic, but in some cases could be due to other things such as a vertically transmitted retrovirus,) and an environmental cause. The majority of environmental causes are likely to be infections (most likely viruses), although toxins remain a remote possibility in some cases. However, the estimates of heritablility of schizophrenia from twin studies varies a great deal, with some notable studies, using very large sample sizes and excellent methodology, show rates as low as 11.0 to 13.8% among monozygotic twins, and 1.8 to 4.1% among dizygotic twins 1 2. Genera A retrovirus is a virus which has a genome consisting of two RNA molecules, which may or may not be identical. ...
The Causes of psychiatric disorders have been subject to many theories. ...
The Causes of psychiatric disorders have been subject to many theories. ...
People with mental illness may or may not have a characteristic pre-illness personality. Those in which genetic features dominate are more likely to have a pre-illness personality profile (such as the autism spectrum) and those predominantly relate to an environmental insult such as infection are more likely to have a normal pre-illness personality. Studies have shown characteristic personality traits in schizophrenia patients 1-2 years before a psychosis but "predisposing" traits are not seen when you look at personality earlier, say 3 - 4 years before first psychosis. This may reflect a slow buildup of environmentally-related damage that finally spills over into full-blown illness. Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder which manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior. ...
There are some illnesses, such as post traumatic stress disorder, that clearly relate to some specific stress-inducing event, but even then it is sometimes suggested[citation needed] that the stressful event simply triggers a disease already latent in the patient's genes, as evidenced by the fact that many people have been raped, been in war, and so on, but only a few of them get stress-related disorders. In response to this, it is pointed out that just because causes of an illness are multifactorial, does not mean that one of those factors is genetic. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a term for the psychological consequences of exposure to or confrontation with stressful experiences, which involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury or a threat to physical integrity and which the person found highly traumatic. ...
Thomas Laughren, who heads the group of scientists at the FDA that evaluates psychotropic medicines, says that "Psychiatric diagnosis is descriptive. We don't really understand psychiatric disorders at a biological level." (source Washington Post) Most mental health care professionals feel similarly, and psychiatric research is a very active field, just like immunology, oncology, and neurobiology. A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical that alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness, or behaviour. ...
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ...
Oncology is the medical subspecialty dealing with the study and treatment of cancer. ...
Neurobiology is a branch of biology that is involved in the study of nervous systems of all animals from a biological and evolutionary perspective. ...
References 1Koskenvuo M, Langinvainio H, Kaprio J, Lonnqvist J, Tienari P (1984) Psychiatric hospitalization in twins. Acta Genet Med Gemellol (Roma), 33(2),321-32.
2Hoeffer A, Pollin W. (1970) Schizophrenia in the NAS-NRC panel of 15,909 veteran twin pairs. Archives of General Psychiatry, 1970 Nov; 23(5):469-77.
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