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Mental health conditions affect how a person thinks, feels, and acts and can impact a person’s life in significant ways, including how he or she copes with life, earns a living, and relates to others.
A common question that patients and their families have following a psychotic episode, suicide attempt, or the diagnosis of any serious mental disorder is WHY?
Research has found that many mental disorders result from many factors. A combination of such factors as the nature, environment, psychology, and genetic factors related with mental health, and mental disorders.
So how can you determine your risk of developing a mental disorder?

Your Family Health History
Your family history is an essential indicator of your risk of developing mental disorders. Certain mental illnesses tend to run in families, and a close relative with a mental disorder could mean you are at a higher risk.
If a family member has a mental disorder, it does not automatically mean you will develop one as many other factors play a role. But knowing your family mental health history can help you determine if you have a higher risk for certain disorders, help your doctor recommend actions for reducing such risk, and enable both you and your doctor to look out for early warning signs.
To gain a better understanding of your family health history, it may help to:
Talk to Your Blood Relatives
The first step in creating a family health history is to talk to your blood relatives. The most helpful information comes from “first-degree” relatives—parents, brothers and sisters, and children. Information from “second-degree” relatives, such as nieces, nephews, half-brothers, half-sisters, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, can also be helpful.
It’s okay if you cannot get complete information on every relative. Some people may not be comfortable with such discussions. Others may be unable to remember information accurately. Whatever information you can collect will be helpful.

Keep a Record
Free print and online tools can help you create a family health history.
As a family grows or family members are diagnosed with health conditions, new or updated information can be added. It may take a little time and effort, but this lasting legacy can improve the health of your family for generations to come.

Talk to a Mental Health Professional
If you have mental illness in your family, you may want to consult with a mental health professional who can help you understand risk factors and preventive factors.

Your Genes
Genes are segments of DNA found in every cell and are passed down from parents to children at conception. Some diseases—such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis—are caused by genetic mutation(s), or a permanent change in one or more specific genes.
In other diseases, including many brain disorders, gene variants play a role in increasing or decreasing a person’s risk of developing a disease or condition. Research is advancing our understanding of the role of genetics in mental health. Although there are common genetic variants associated with rare disorders like Fragile X or Rett syndrome, no gene variants can predict with certainty that a person will develop a mental disorder. In most cases, even the genetic variant with the most supporting research raise a person’s risk by only very small amounts. Knowing that you have one of these gene variants won’t tell you nearly as much about your risk as your family history can..

Your environment.
What scientists do know definitively is that environmental factors play a significant role in the development of mental health conditions. These include everything from stress to poor nutrition to substance abuse, death, divorce, neglect and family life.

A groundbreaking study conducted in the mid-’90s by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, called the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study affirms that genetic predisposition to mental illness coupled with environmental factors can increase the chances a child or adult will exhibit symptoms. It’s one of the largest investigations of the impact of childhood abuse and neglect on later-life health and well-being, and is still quite relevant.
From 1995 to 1997, researchers surveyed more than 17,000 people about their childhood experiences — including physical, mental and sexual abuse — and their current health status and behaviors. What they found was very, very striking — a direct correlation between a number of those events these people had as children and negative health outcomes as a result. The study showed that as the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences increases, so does the risk of developing a variety of health issues, including mental health conditions like depression or risk of suicide.

Even identical twins don’t share the same predisposed risk. Just because you’re predisposed to a mental health condition and experience an ongoing stressor doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a mental illness. Every person is different ― even twins with similar DNA structure.
People do respond differently to the same stressor. In two twins who have the same genetic DNA, the expression of depression may not happen in one of them. One may not develop the psychiatric disorder that’s in their family tree [even though] they may both go through the same stressor.
A 2011 study published by King’s College London found that even though identical twins are genetically the same, non-genetic factors play an important role in the onset of the diseases. The study looked specifically at schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, where heritability is estimated to be 70 percent. Because only one person in each-twin pair had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, genetic causes were ruled out.
So, what does it all mean?
There’s research that suggests if a family member has a mental illness, your chances of developing it possibly increase. However, you may never exhibit symptoms if you didn’t experience any traumatic events as a child, your everyday life is relatively stress-free and you’re in a supportive environment.
But it’s also important to note that mental health conditions can develop even if there is no family history. Mental health issues are complex, so it’s vital to recognize the signs like withdrawal, excessive rumination, extreme anxiety, and thoughts of self-harm, periods of mania and more.
If you think you may have a mental illness, talk with your doctor. Whatever the outcome is, there’s hope. Whether you’re living with a mental illness or think you may be at risk, know that you’re not alone and treatment is available.

CATEGORIES:

Psychology

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