One of the most active debates that have been fueled in recent years is the one that is concerned with the question of whether genetic or hereditary Mental Health Issues. A survey reveals that about twenty percent of the American population suffers from some form of mental illness, and this makes many people wonder about the chances of such conditions being hereditary. Regarding that, it is critical to ask questions regarding the signs of the impact of genetic or environmental factors on the onset of mental health disorders. In the following blog post, we will focus on the specific aspects of genetics and inheritance of mental disorders and try to shed some light on the state of recent scientific discoveries. Our goal for this blog is therefore to create awareness and understanding of how genetics and the environment interact to affect mental health, to change and encourage more informed perceptions of this issue.
What are Mental Health Issues?
Mental health problems are also known as mental disorders. Mental illnesses and mental health conditions are disorders that affect the person’s thought process, emotions, and behaviors. These disorders affect thinking, emotions, and behavior that affect stress management, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making in daily practice.
- Depression: Described by severe cases of low moods, detachment from things they used to enjoy, and lethargy or listlessness.
- Anxiety Disorders: Some of them are; generalized anxiety disorders, panic disorders, social anxiety disorders which are characterized by excessive fear and worry.
- Bipolar Disorder: Describes fluctuations that are characterized by episodes in which patients are full of energy (mania) and those in which they are sad and discouraged (depression).
- Schizophrenia: A serious mental condition that impairs the individual, thinking, emotions, and behavior, and often has hallucinations and/or delusions.
- Eating Disorders: Like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa which entail abnormal feeding patterns as well as obsession with thinness.
Are Mental Health Issues Genetic?
Some studies have shown a genetic link to where people may be born with some instinct to a specific disorder. However, it should also be noted that the application of autistic genes is only a part of the consideration while using various other parameters of the environment and psychological factors. Inherited susceptibility means that an individual can be at a higher risk of contracting a specific disease about his or her DNA. This does not, however, imply that first-degree relatives of the mentally ill will develop the same disorders; they are rather at higher risk than the population without such a history. For instance, it has been found that depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or even ASD are heritable illnesses, suggesting that they may be hereditary.
- Scholars have found many depression-related genes and most of them are found to be located in neurotransmitter genes, particularly serotonin and dopamine genes. It can therefore be concluded that the connection between genetics and the development of mental illnesses is a broad area and yet to be fully researched.
- Other mental illnesses such as anxiety disorder, inclusive of generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder also have a genetic basis. Genetics also has a part to play; those with family who have anxiety disorder are more likely to have one since genes can affect the structure of the brain areas that are involved in anxiety, such as the amygdala.
- This is a severe affective disorder wherein the patient experiences alternating moods; the disorder is hereditary. This is demonstrated by research concerning identical twins where, if one twin has bipolar disorder, it was estimated that there is an 80 % probability that the other twin would also have this disorder, hence making bipolar disorder a highly heritable disorder.
- You have schizophrenia—it’s one of the percent heritable diseases, with genetic influence contributing to the 80% risk factor. Several genes related to this condition have been identified, most of which affect brain structure and the neurotransmitter systems.
Are Mental Health Issues Hereditary?
These are conditions of the mind, and they affect people’s relationships, jobs, and well-being; they include genetic factors. Several studies show that mental illnesses can be genetically inherited, and this may make those who have relatives diagnosed with such diseases more vulnerable to getting the same diseases. However, this does not mean that mental illness is solely a result of genetic makeup since it is usually attributed to a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors. Indeed, it has been established that genetics contribute to many Mental Health Issues in one way or another. It was ascertained that people who have a first-degree relative with Mental Health Issues are more likely to suffer from similar problems.
This heritability implies the ability to point at certain genes that are linked to the likelihood of developing some form of Mental Health Issues, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and various forms of anxiety disorders. Analyzing the data, the authors have revealed the presence of one or another polymorphism that is linked to multiple primary mental disorders. For instance, genetic differences associated with the structure of the brain and neurotransmitter function have been associated with bipolar affective disorders or schizophrenia. Such data reveal that although there can be a hereditary predisposition to develop a disorder, it does not necessarily mean that the disorder will be developed. as research has shown that many Mental Health Issues have genetic factors. There is still a lot of research claiming that genetics is only a portion of the problem. Schizophrenia, for example, is a group of disorders that have genetic and environmental factors as the cause.
Are Mental Health Issues Curable?
Mental Health Issues are ailments that are long-term and tend to have fluctuations in their symptoms’ intensity. Unlike most diseases you can take a pill for or get an operation to get cured for Mental Health Issues are often management conditions where you don’t get a cure but a management plan. This results from the fact that mental disorders are complex and may have genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological components.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy which is also known as verbal or verbal communication is a first-line Mental Health Issues. Various forms of psychotherapy exist, including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Cognitive restructuring aims at changing negative modes of thinking to positive and modifying negative behaviors.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT, is most useful for people suffering from mood swings and difficulty in dealing with other people. related disorders. Such therapies seek to enable people to have better knowledge about their conditions as well as enable them to have various ways of handling their condition with a view of enhancing their functioning.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Situations in which the injury has occurred are most often managed using trauma surgery.
Medications
Psychoactive drugs for treating mental illness are often administered to patients in the course of their treatment. Even though medicines can treat and relax the symptoms and help increase the patient’s quality of life, they can aid the primary disease. Common types of medications include:
- Antidepressants: Used mostly for the treatment of depression and anxiety-related disorders.
- Mood Stabilizers: More, frequently prescribed for bipolar disorder and more.
- Antipsychotics: Organic Mental Health Issues used to treat schizophrenia and severe mood disorders.
Drugs, as a rule, are admitted to be most useful when paired with the drug therapy; therefore, psychotherapy.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that genetic factors can be associated with mental disorders in different and rather intricate ways. In all the above-stated studies, some confirmations entail genetic link in the occurrence of listed mental disorders, implying that such illnesses have a genetic background. Despite these, genetic susceptibility does not work in a vacuum but is triggered by certain environmental factors like stressors and trauma, among other lifestyle factors, which either help or aggravate the development of these disorders. Recent research shows that most psychiatric disorders are polygenic; that is, many genetic variations exist with small effects on the risk. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are other examples of disorders that are likely to have high heritability values, meaning that people with family histories of these disorders could be more vulnerable. However, it is important to note that having a particular gene will also mean that one will definitely develop a mental health issue; rather, it is likely to happen. In addition, people succeeded in gene research, which is leading to the development of accurate treatment for Mental Health Issues. Some Mental Health Issues have a known genetic basis, and knowledge of these disorders’ genetic structure can help in the development of diagnosis and more specific therapeutics. However, the field still has its challenges, such as calling for more research to be done to determine the relationship between genetic and environmental factors.
