Posted by linkadge on June 23, 2009, at 7:43:51
In reply to Re: NYT: Report on Gene for Depression Is Now Faulted, posted by morganpmiller on June 22, 2009, at 23:55:46
>I believe that almost every mental disorder, >even schizophrenia, arises out of the bio-psycho->social dynamic. There is no gene that causes >depression. People want to believe that because >they don't want to face the ugly truth about why >their depression as grown into the monster it >is.
There are times that I believe this and times that I don't. I have seen severe depression exist in the complete absence of any identifyable precipitating factors. Sometimes I am most depressed in the summer, when my psychosocial stressors are lowest. The depression and mania of advanced bipolar disorder is also often out of whack with any identifyable factors. My mother had a psychotic episode out of the blue, and then is perfectly normal when the resession hits and her parents die.
I agree that people want to blame it all on their genes, and for most people, common depression is precipitated by stressful life events. But, I do believe there are likely some mental illnesses which are due to certain genes (like huntingtons disease) where the patient will likely get worse without treatment whether or not life is good.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:901619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090620/msgs/902733.html