Posted by SLS on July 19, 2005, at 15:03:11
In reply to Bad (but expected) news about ADs, posted by med_empowered on July 19, 2005, at 13:53:07
BIOLOGY OR PSYCHOLOGY?
The best answer to this question may be "either and both".
Many of us here have been diagnosed as having a mental illness. Mental illnesses are NOT mental weaknesses. The diagnoses that we are most familiar with include:
1. Major Depression (Unipolar Depression)
2. Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression)
3. Dysthymia (Minor Depression)
4. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
5. Schizophrenia
6. Schizo-Affective Disorder
7. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
8. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Each has both biological and psychological components. We all begin our lives with a brain that is built using the blueprints contained within the genes we inherit from our parents. Later, hormones change the brain to prepare it for adulthood. The brain can be changed in negative ways by things such as drugs, alcohol, and injury. The brain is also changed by the things we experience.
How we think and feel are influenced by our environment. Probably the most important environment during our development is that of the family, with the most important time being our childhood. We all have both positive and negative experiences as we travel through life. How we are as adults is in large part determined by these positive and negative experiences. They affect our psychology, our emotions, and our behaviors. All of us can be hurt by unhealthy negative experiences.
Some of us are also hurt by unhealthy brains. Medical science has long recognized that many mental illnesses are biological illnesses. Even Sigmund Freud, who we know for his development of psychoanalysis, proposed a role for biology in mental illness. The first solid evidence for this concept in modern times came with the discovery of lithium in 1947. Lithium was found to cause the symptoms of bipolar disorder (manic- depression) to disappear completely, allowing people to lead normal lives. Lithium helps to correct for the abnormal biology that is the cause of bipolar disorder. Later biological discoveries included the observations that the drug Thorazine (an antipsychotic) successfully treated schizophrenia, and that Tofranil (an antidepressant) successfully treated depression. Again, these drugs help to correct for the abnormal biology of the brain that accompanies these illnesses.
What about psychology? What role does it play in mental illness? This can be a two-way street. The abnormal biology that occurs with some mental illnesses affects our psychology – how we think, feel, and behave. On the other hand, our psychology can also affect our biology. As we now know, the emotional stresses and traumas we experience change the way our brains operate. This is especially true of things we experience during childhood. These stresses can trigger the induction of abnormal brain function that leads to major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other major mental illnesses. In order for this to happen, however, there must be a genetic or some other biological vulnerability to begin with.
Unfortunately, there are still too many people who cannot bring themselves to believe that the most common mental illnesses are actually brain disorders. However, the vast majority of our top researchers in psychiatry and neuroscience do.
It is important to understand that not all psychological and emotional troubles are biological in origin. Again, we are all products of our environments – family, friends, enemies, school, work, culture, climate, war, etc. Environments that are unhealthy often produce unhealthy people.
In conclusion, regardless of the cause of our mental illnesses, it is important that we treat both the biological and the psychological. We will all benefit most if we do.
- SLS
poster:SLS
thread:530123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050718/msgs/530145.html