I saw that there was a thread in December about mental illness that didn't get too far off the ground, so I thought that starting another one might be a decent option.
Is mental illness something societal or genetic?
Is it based on your life experiences which push you in a certain direction decision after decision you make, or is it a genetic problem that causes decisions to be irregular and cause reactions in the brain that are not "normal"?
Is it a mixture of both, one or the other or is it neither?
From a personal standpoint, I have gone through a lot of trauma in my life, and was not diagnosed with any mental illness until very recently, when I started getting terrible anxiety, some paranoia and panic attacks. My parents are a bit strange but they haven't been diagnosed with anything (perhaps they haven't had the proper chance to be diagnosed with something), so based on that, I would say it is societal, and based on the decisions you make, with your conscious and subconscious working in tandem to alter your decision making process. Traumatic life experiences without proper therapy or the proper coping mechanisms lead to the dysfunction of your brains schemata and eventually, you can fukk it up enough to cause permanent issues. I smoked for quite a long time as well, always mixing my tobacco with my weed, and have quit, but the symptoms have persisted and have gotten worse since then. So who knows.
On the other hand, it could be genetic. Using me as an example again, my parents had me at around age 40, and maybe, it just wasn't meant to be that I was to come out "right" mentally, and the late onset of illness has been exacerbated by me putting myself in a position to trigger such illnesses, rather then them simply being a product of decision making and societal, day to day pressures. I went through high school primarily fine, as well as my first year of college, but after that point, I began to put myself in harm's way more, and maybe I fukked myself up after being predisposed to it genetically? (The drinking, the smoking, the drama, etc). I suppose that could be in favor of societal pressures as well, as when shyt got crazy in my life, I just slowly broke down over it mentally.
Or is it something else entirely? Are there some of you out there who think mental illness in general is a sham? Talk to me, especially psychology heads...
Is mental illness something societal or genetic?
Is it based on your life experiences which push you in a certain direction decision after decision you make, or is it a genetic problem that causes decisions to be irregular and cause reactions in the brain that are not "normal"?
Is it a mixture of both, one or the other or is it neither?
From a personal standpoint, I have gone through a lot of trauma in my life, and was not diagnosed with any mental illness until very recently, when I started getting terrible anxiety, some paranoia and panic attacks. My parents are a bit strange but they haven't been diagnosed with anything (perhaps they haven't had the proper chance to be diagnosed with something), so based on that, I would say it is societal, and based on the decisions you make, with your conscious and subconscious working in tandem to alter your decision making process. Traumatic life experiences without proper therapy or the proper coping mechanisms lead to the dysfunction of your brains schemata and eventually, you can fukk it up enough to cause permanent issues. I smoked for quite a long time as well, always mixing my tobacco with my weed, and have quit, but the symptoms have persisted and have gotten worse since then. So who knows.
On the other hand, it could be genetic. Using me as an example again, my parents had me at around age 40, and maybe, it just wasn't meant to be that I was to come out "right" mentally, and the late onset of illness has been exacerbated by me putting myself in a position to trigger such illnesses, rather then them simply being a product of decision making and societal, day to day pressures. I went through high school primarily fine, as well as my first year of college, but after that point, I began to put myself in harm's way more, and maybe I fukked myself up after being predisposed to it genetically? (The drinking, the smoking, the drama, etc). I suppose that could be in favor of societal pressures as well, as when shyt got crazy in my life, I just slowly broke down over it mentally.
Or is it something else entirely? Are there some of you out there who think mental illness in general is a sham? Talk to me, especially psychology heads...
