The Top 5 Causes of Mental Illness.

 

The Top 5 Causes of Mental Illness

The word mental can be used to describe something that happens in your mind, such as anxiety or depression. The word illness can also be used to describe something that happens in your body, such as a bacterial infection or the flu. However, if you hear someone say I have a mental illness, it usually means they are suffering from what is known as psychological disorders or psychiatric illnesses (although some people use the terms interchangeably). This can include mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, but also includes other behavioral problems like personality disorders and schizophrenia, among others.

mental health illness

If we're talking about the top five most common mental illnesses, depression tops the list. It affects over 16 million people and is twice as common in women than in men. The second most common mental illness is Generalized Anxiety Disorder, affecting 7.8 million adults over 18 years old with an average onset age of 31 years old. Post-traumatic stress disorder affects around 6 million adults or 1 out of every 50 people within a given year, who have undergone significant physical or emotional trauma or danger to their life at some point in their life; females suffer from PTSD more than males by two to one ratio.

causes of mental illness

1 Lack of Physical Activity 

Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of developing mental illness. A lack of exercise can leave people feeling fatigued, anxious, or depressed. 

2 Poor Nutrition 

3 Alcohol Abuse Alcohol and drugs disrupt normal sleep patterns, which can increase levels of stress and make you more likely to develop mental illness. 

4 Smoking Smoking causes a range of issues that can increase your risk for depression and other mental illnesses.

1) Does Not Know How to Handle Emotions

Millennials are more likely to suffer from mental illness than any other generation. Unraveling the cause is difficult, but here are some top reasons for Millennials developing mental illness: 

-Substance abuse - Drugs and alcohol can lead to a downward spiral in self-care and other mental wellness habits. 

-Financial stress - The high cost of college tuition and the uncertainty of making enough money as an adult often contributes to anxiety or depression.

2) Parental Trauma

Anxiety, depression, and other types of mental illness are often the result of a parent or parents suffering from this type. Of course, not all children will develop mental health disorders as a result of parental trauma, but it's important to recognize the signs in yourself or your child so that you can seek treatment early on.

3) Gene Variants and Genes

Some gene variants which have been linked to mental health conditions include the following: the dopamine D2 receptor, which is implicated in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), involved in depression; brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), involved in PTSD and major depressive disorder; kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (KMO), implicated in depression.

4) Poor Physical Health

Most cases of mental illness are in some way connected to the state of your physical health. This is often because people neglect their physical health, which creates a cascade effect on their mental state. Some people experience long-term emotional stress from an unhealthy lifestyle, while others may suffer from a traumatic event that causes irreversible damage to the brain cells. Poor or insufficient sleep, inflammation in the body, and/or diet may also lead to anxiety and depression, for example. An ongoing sense of hopelessness can be treated with targeted talk therapy or alternative medications; recovery often occurs gradually with one session at a time until reaching the best possible state. For many other conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), medication is key to recovery and stabilizing day-to-day life.

5) Environmental Factors

Poverty and lower socio-economic status are known to be associated with poor mental health. Areas with high rates of poverty are more likely to have higher rates of mental illness as well. Even though being born into a low socioeconomic family doesn't necessarily mean that you will have an anxiety disorder, there are strong correlations between the two. For example, a child in a wealthy family is less likely to have social anxiety than a child who comes from a low socioeconomic family, but it's still possible for either situation to exist.