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Riley Ryan

Dean Leonard

English 1201

20 March 2022

What is the relationship between a person’s genetics and mental health?

Many people around the world are diagnosed with mental disorders every day. These

mental illnesses can affect a person’s day to day lives. Can it affect their children? Can a mother

or father’s mental disorders be passed down to their children? How can someone’s mental health

affect the future of their family?

Unlike in the past, mental health has been widely accepted as an epidemic in our society.

Society’s attitudes towards mental health issues have shifted from past times. For much of the

past, mental health has often been treated very poorly or even ignored completely. “Beginning in

the Middle Ages and up until the mid-20th century, the mentally ill were misunderstood and

treated cruelly. In the 1700s, Philippe Pinel advocated for patients to be unchained, and he was

able to affect this in a Paris hospital. In the 1800s, Dorothea Dix urged the government to

provide better funded and regulated care, which led to the creation of asylums, but treatment

generally remained quite poor. Federally mandated deinstitutionalization in the 1960s began the

elimination of asylums, but it was often inadequate in providing the infrastructure for

replacement treatment” (“Mental Health and Treatment: Past and Present,” n.d.). Some even

believed that mental disorders were caused by “demonic possession, witchcraft, or an angry god”

(“Mental Health and Treatment: Past and Present,” n.d.). Even today, it is popular among people
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to keep their mental disorders hidden out of insecurity or embarrassment. In addition, people

today often do not recognize the signs of mental illness or choose to not seek help.

Lots of research has proven the connection between genetics and mental illness.

“Familial and genetic associations between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other

neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders have been reported, sometimes with conflicting

results. We estimated familial and genetic associations between ASD and nine disorder groups,

and explored differences in these associations for ASD in the context of intellectual disability,

epilepsy, chromosomal abnormalities, and congenital malformations” (Ghirardi, 2021).

In addition, research has been found that proves a person's genes can make them more

susceptible and vulnerable to particular mental illnesses. “ A new study has revealed a common

pattern of connections in the brains of people whose genes predispose them to mental health

problems. Findings show that brains ‘wired up’ in this way are associated with not just one but a

whole range of mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, autism, depression, anxiety,

and bipolar disorder” (Taquet, 2020).

Research shows that mental disorders have proven to be somewhat genetic in the sense

that an individual is more likely to have a particular mental disorder if other family members

have had it. Most mental disorders are, in fact, caused by genetics, in addition to other

environmental factors. “Mental disorders are the result of both genetic and environmental

factors. There is no single genetic switch that when flipped causes a mental disorder.

Consequently, it is difficult for doctors to determine a person's risk of inheriting a mental

disorder or passing on the disorder to their children. The causes of mental disorders are complex,
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requiring many interacting genes and environmental factors” (“Inheriting Mental Disorders,”

2015).

Research has proven that genetics contribute to the likelihood of a person developing a

mental disorder. What particular genetics can contribute to this? Research has revealed that

certain variations with doing and chromosomes can be the factors contributing to the

developments of mental disorders through genetics. “Variations in 2 genes that code for the

cellular machinery that helps regulate the flow of calcium into neurons. Variation in one of these,

called CACNA1C, had previously been linked to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major

depression. CACNA1C is known to affect brain circuitry involved in emotion, thinking, attention

and memory — functions that can be disrupted in mental illnesses. Variation in another calcium

channel gene, called CACNB2, was also linked to the 5 disorders. In addition, the researchers

discovered illness-linked variation for all 5 disorders in certain regions of chromosomes 3 and

10. Each of these sites spans several genes, and causal factors haven’t yet been pinpointed. The

suspect region along chromosome 3 had the strongest links to the disorders. This region also

harbors certain variations previously linked to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia” (Jordan,

2013).

Research has proven a clear link between genetics and mental behavior. Mental disorders

can directly affect a person’s likelihood of developing particular mental disorders. These

disorders can be developed from genetics or independently and can be passed down through

generations.
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Bibliography

“ERIC - EJ1295483 - Mental Health Epigenetics: A Primer with Implications for Counselors,

Professional Counselor, 2021.” ERIC, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1295483. Accessed 20

March 2022.

“Genes and Mental Illness — Department of Psychiatry.” Department of Psychiatry, 7 May

2020, https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/genes-and-mental-illness. Accessed 20 March

2022.

“Inheriting Mental Disorders.” HealthyChildren.org, 21 November 2015,

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-problems/Pa

ges/Inheriting-Mental-Disorders.aspx. Accessed 20 March 2022.

“Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present – Psychology.” UH Pressbooks,

http://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/psychology/chapter/mental-health-treatment-past-an

d-present/. Accessed 20 March 2022.

Smoller, Jordan. “Common Genetic Factors Found in 5 Mental Disorders.” National Institutes of

Health (NIH), 18 March 2013,

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/common-genetic-factors-found-5-

mental-disorders. Accessed 20 March 2022.

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