Posted by hgi698 on January 26, 2007, at 12:27:11 [reposted on January 26, 2007, at 23:07:22 | original URL]
In reply to Re: Does Mental Illness Exist? Feedback Requested!, posted by mindevolution on January 25, 2007, at 0:44:49
On mental illness:
"of all the hundreds of mental illnesses in the dsmv, we do not know the aetiology of any of them."
This statement is wrong we DO know the aetiology of many mental illness. It is complex mix of genetic and environmental factors. Sometimes vitamin deficiencies can cause depression, psychoses. Scientists know that chronic stress activates the hypothalamus to secrete corticotroph which stimulates the pituitary to release ACTH with stimulates the adrenal gland to release cortisol. Cortisol has effects in many brain areas that are key to emotional regulation like the hippocampus. Cortisol has been shown to shrink the hippocampus. Many animal models can mimic depression. Giving electric shocks chronically to an animal causes it to reduce consumption of sucrose (anhedonia). The learned helplessness theory of depression. It is likely that depression is an evolutionary adaption and their are many theories as to why it was advantageous (such as social rank theory). Many genes have been correlated with mental illness. A deficiency in Omega 3 fatty acids (found in fish) has a profound effect on neurotransmitters, reducing serotonin and dopamine in key regulatory areas. Some scientists have correlated the rise in depression to an increase in trans-fat when compared to omega 3's. Our unhealthy lifestyle is leading to changes in brain chemistry that cause people to become depressed and even possibly psychotic. Exercise increases oxygen to the brain, raises the pleasure chemical dopamine, and the pain relieving endorphins. There are many other things that we know about specific mental illness that are too complex and long winded for me to cover here. So to say we don't know anything about mental illness and it's causes is false. The amount that we know about the brain and mental illness is enormous.
Are antidepressants or antipsychotics necessarily correcting chemical imbalance? The answer is no. But they are tools that we use to obtain more desired states of mind, just like caffeine and alcohol. Perhaps if everyone supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids, reduced their stress and exercised more the rates of depression would decrease substantially. But mental illness exists because the brain has evolved through millions of years to be good at survival and reproduction. Unfortunately this does not mean overwhelming happiness for the owner of such a brain. Psychiatry has had especially dreadful instances of quackery in the past (lobotomy anyone?) and still has its downside, but this has been the case for most fields of human endeavor. Humans have had the ability to use science and technology to their advantage throughout their existance. The brain is not magic, it can be scientifically studied just like any other organ in the body. Thus it is not outside the realm of "improvement". So one can hope that psychiatry like any other field will continue to get better in the future.
poster:hgi698
thread:726938
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20061123/msgs/726942.html