[live2ski66]

Do you think that you "catch" or "come down with" a mental health illness, or do you think the illness is there since pre-birth, lurking in the background waiting for the social, environmental factor to surface and become a full fledge illness?

Just my mind in overdrive.

[Lorn]

Not possible to say without defining a condition first. Their origins and causes aren't all the same.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by live2ski66

Do you think that you "catch" or "come down with" a mental health illness, or do you think the illness is there since pre-birth, lurking in the background waiting for the social, environmental factor to surface and become a full fledge illness?

Just my mind in overdrive.

here in NY (the one in the USA as opposed to in other locations) mental illness isnt like a virus or bacteria. you cant catch it from being exposed to others with mental illness.

here that belief that mental illness is catching from another person is called false belief/ old wives tales, outdated, stigmatizing/discrimination against the mentally ill. there are many agencies that fight against this kind of stigma and discrimination of the mentally ill, one is the National Alliance on mental illness (nami) another is the American Disabilities Act and the American Psychiatric Association.

thats not saying a person cant show .....symptoms... of mental illness... there are many different mental and physical health diseases/disorders and many share the same symptom..

example a bacteria or virus like syphilis which is a bacterial infection that can cause a person to have mental disorder symptoms like symptoms of paranoia, psychosis, hallucinations, delusions... if left untreated but here in America Syphilis is a physical health problem not a mental illness.

there are some mental illnesses just like physical health diseases that are there from birth...these are called hereditary disorders/diseases. in some families for example schizophrenia is hereditary, so is bipolar disorder...PTSD on the other side is not a hereditary mental disorder. its a reaction to things that happen to you...example put two people in the same room and have them witness a crime one may have reactions to that of nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks (PTSD) where as the other may come out of it with no negative affects. (no PTSD)

to find out whether you have mental disorders, what they are and why they are there (hereditary, life reactions, a bacterial infection (which is curable with antibiotics) you will need to contact your own treatment providers.

[Hellion]

Usually it is a combination of biological factors(genetics), environmental and social factors that can create mental health conditions. There are some sorts of disorders that are more biological like autism which people are born with...but then one with that disorder still can have good mental health so not sure those sorts of things count as mental health conditions.

But for things like depression, anxiety, ect its a combination of various factors that can cause it. I wouldn't say its something you catch like a cold or anything like that.

[Nammu]

I believe the symptoms of mental health can be learned by others, but the illness it self, no that can not be caught.

I once worked with a woman who was born deaf...back when that was automatically grounds for being institutionalized . She grew up surrounded by unmedicated chaos and she learned those behaviors. Once they started to look at ways to de-institutionalize many people she was taught ASL( she was in her 30's). She learned quickly and was eventually sent to the house I worked at. When she was frustrated or confused she would act out in a way interpreted as MI. But she herself wasn't MI or DD although she had those labels.

I also believe there are people who for one reason or another desire attention and mimic MI behaviors. I am however not sure if doing that might not be a type of MI in itself or just some sort of hole inside a person that would drive them to desire a MI.

[shabur]

You can't "catch" a mental illness from someone. It's not a virus or a bacteria, it is a chemical imbalance in your brain.

Mental illnesses can develop from a trauma, either to the self or to the brain. As an example, you can lose someone dear to you and fall into a depression, but as you progress through the grieving process you will overcome your depression.

You can suffer a trauma that could result in a mental illness. Someone who is abused or grows up in a particular environment, particularly as a child when the brain is developing, can develop a mental illness.

You can be genetically inclined towards a mental illness.

Mental illness is just an illness, it's not cooties.

Excluding the mental illnesses that are from physical abnormalities in the brain from damage or defect, I would think that someone can "catch" mental illness under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

If an individual grows up in an abusive household and they develop a personality disorder as a result, then they go on to have their own family, I think the people they share a house with could begin to be affected by their disorder to the point of sharing those problems themselves (but without having that original cause).

Mood is contagious, after all, as are outlooks and attitudes. I'm sure everyone has known someone in life who changed after befriending one particular individual. They get drawn into that person's world, and once there, if that friend's world is an unhealthy mental space than I think any mental illness they are experiencing could begin to manifest themselves in the person who was drawn in.

For example, if one person in a household has severe depression, I think that would increase the likelihood of others within the same household developing depression themselves - even if they have not experienced whatever caused the other person's depression. The same goes for paranoia. Group paranoia isn't uncommon, and there are many cases of collective hysteria through the centuries. Cultural beliefs, behaviours, or "magical thinking" gets passed from generation to generation as well. Some of the cultural views, behaviours or delusions can seem more like mental illness than what we call mental illness, yet the people do those things or hold those views because they were passed on to them.

People can also be taught detachment, or become prone to abuse power when others around them do the same. Consider the Nazi concentration camps in WWII. You could definitely make the argument that what the Nazis were doing in those camps could not have come from a "healthy" mind, but do you think they found mentally ill people to man those camps, or do you think that cruelness and sadism grew collectively? I think the Stanford Prison Experiment is a good example of how unhealthy mental states can develop and be spread in previously healthy individuals, and that was only after 7 days. Imagine how much it would affect someone who shares a household with a similar unhealthy mental state, or frequent close proximity.

I'm sure we've all been dragged down by somebody. Been in a toxic environment. Toxic environments can have physical and mental consequences. So is it really impossible to "catch"?

Somebody told me about a former coworker who was so miserable he was prescribed antidepressants. Luckily he recognized it as a problem with the job not himself. Got a new job. Problem solved. How many people try to make it work for far too long and can't exit that depression on their own? I don't know how much you can blame on genetics.

Where are the other NYC's? That's a new one....

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[-jimi-]

With some stuff it is just too complex. You might need a genetic startpoint and an epigenetic trigger, then a certain environment, a certain reaction to it, the environment reacts back, during a certain age... and so on.

The short story though, some things are by definition triggered like PTSD, and some you are born with, like ADHD. But of course nothing in reality is totally nature or totally nurture.

[Hellion]

Originally Posted by Trebyn

Mood is contagious, after all, as are outlooks and attitudes. I'm sure everyone has known someone in life who changed after befriending one particular individual. They get drawn into that person's world, and once there, if that friend's world is an unhealthy mental space than I think any mental illness they are experiencing could begin to manifest themselves in the person who was drawn in.

For example, if one person in a household has severe depression, I think that would increase the likelihood of others within the same household developing depression themselves - even if they have not experienced whatever caused the other person's depression. The same goes for paranoia. Group paranoia isn't uncommon, and there are many cases of collective hysteria through the centuries. Cultural beliefs, behaviours, or "magical thinking" gets passed from generation to generation as well. Some of the cultural views, behaviours or delusions can seem more like mental illness than what we call mental illness, yet the people do those things or hold those views because they were passed on to them.

I have severe depression and no one in my house has developed depression on account of that...My whole family has various mental issues to varying degrees as far as I can tell though I am the only one who has major difficulties functioning and can't hold a job and probably the only one that's been in the psych ward not entirely sure on that though...my brother doesn't have a job but not because he can't work or interact well with people he just hasn't found one yet and is still looking and applying. My 12 year old brother does not work either obviously so it has yet to be seen how functional he'll end up.

So I don't know I think its more of a shared genetic thing, not so sure totally unrelated people would end up developing mental illnesses from each other...though if someone is around someone who is really depressed and can't mask it at all they might start feeling depressed, but its not the same as getting depression...chances are in that situation the person could not be diagnosed with a depressive disorder.

Also I don't think collective hysteria is really an example of mass mental illness, people without mental illness can get sucked into these kinds of things...after all mental illnesses all have to do with normal human traits/behaviors that get to the point they negatively interfere with someones life. So yes paranoia is a symptom of some mental illnesses, doesn't mean people without mental illness can't get paranoid...paranoia and propaganda was what the nazis used to get people to support their violating the rights of many people. People can feel depressed without having depression, its natural to feel depressed about things. Though if one is in a situation causing them to feel depressed for long enough they could develop the disorder since the brain can go through changes based on environment even if there is not a specific genetic factor...at least I think that is possible not entirely sure.

Originally Posted by Hellion

I have severe depression and no one in my house has developed depression on account of that...My whole family has various mental issues to varying degrees as far as I can tell though I am the only one who has major difficulties functioning and can't hold a job and probably the only one that's been in the psych ward not entirely sure on that though...my brother doesn't have a job but not because he can't work or interact well with people he just hasn't found one yet and is still looking and applying. My 12 year old brother does not work either obviously so it has yet to be seen how functional he'll end up.

So I don't know I think its more of a shared genetic thing, not so sure totally unrelated people would end up developing mental illnesses from each other...though if someone is around someone who is really depressed and can't mask it at all they might start feeling depressed, but its not the same as getting depression...chances are in that situation the person could not be diagnosed with a depressive disorder.

Also I don't think collective hysteria is really an example of mass mental illness, people without mental illness can get sucked into these kinds of things...after all mental illnesses all have to do with normal human traits/behaviors that get to the point they negatively interfere with someones life. So yes paranoia is a symptom of some mental illnesses, doesn't mean people without mental illness can't get paranoid...paranoia and propaganda was what the nazis used to get people to support their violating the rights of many people. People can feel depressed without having depression, its natural to feel depressed about things. Though if one is in a situation causing them to feel depressed for long enough they could develop the disorder since the brain can go through changes based on environment even if there is not a specific genetic factor...at least I think that is possible not entirely sure.

I think it depends on the individual. That your family is one way doesn't reflect on another family. You can always find exceptions. But I think you can become MI by being in the right environment just like you can get better in the right environment. IMO it is "more" genetic or "more" environment from a general point of view. For you it may be more genetic. For somebody else it may be more environment. My opinion.

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[Nammu]

Dysfunctional families do not necessarily have mental illness but they can certainly aggravate those individuals who do have a propensity toward mental illness. Families that have members with mental illness certainly are affected by that and it can cause them to be depressed but not necessarily cause the mental illness of MDD.

On the other hand trauma has a more likely chance of inducing MI in those predisposed towards it. What causes trauma in one person may not cause it in another. I believe it is a individual biochemical reaction. They are finding out that almost anything can cause a persons body chemistry to fluctuate, the food you eat, when & where you were born, environment, stress....again it is all individualized.

I recently heard a radio story which followed two men in Chicago diagnosed with PTSD. It was narrated by the reporter but each told their story in their own words separately. One is a vet (Afghanistan or Iraq). The other joined a gang in high school. The vet had a good upbringing. No red flags. Their stories of how they got sick and started to heal are so remarkably similar that it is difficult to think there is very much of a genetic link.

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[Hellion]

Originally Posted by Michanne

I think it depends on the individual. That your family is one way doesn't reflect on another family. You can always find exceptions. But I think you can become MI by being in the right environment just like you can get better in the right environment. IMO it is "more" genetic or "more" environment from a general point of view. For you it may be more genetic. For somebody else it may be more environment. My opinion.

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That is more or less what I was trying to say, it can vary how much is related to genetics and how much is related to environments...people can develop mental illnesses in the right circumstances....I just don't think the right circumstance would be being exposed to someone with a mental illness. Also though genetics can only pre-dispose someone to certain mental illnesses or make it more likely for them to get it but it wont cause mental illness by itself.

Originally Posted by Hellion

That is more or less what I was trying to say, it can vary how much is related to genetics and how much is related to environments...people can develop mental illnesses in the right circumstances....I just don't think the right circumstance would be being exposed to someone with a mental illness. Also though genetics can only pre-dispose someone to certain mental illnesses or make it more likely for them to get it but it wont cause mental illness by itself.

Oh. Yeah. I wasn't saying in my first comment that it is always transmittable but suggesting the possibility is there. No it isn't like a virus in the sense that you can narrow it down to an organism but there is no doubt in my mind that we can effect each other at a most basic level. Pre disposition is certainly a possibility but I'm not sure that is a requirement either. Let's face it, we really don't know. I think a lot of MI is simply culture defined anyway.

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