Mental “illness”: nurture, not nature?
Richard Bentall sets out the view that poor mental health is not a disease or stigma. In a Guardian article he writes that it is mostly nurture, not nature.
Mental health problems or “illness” are the result of trauma we experience, and not genetic vulnerability. It’s not “brain conditions … barely influenced by the slings and arrows of misfortune”.
The evidence of a link between childhood misfortune and future psychiatric disorder is about as strong statistically as the link between smoking and lung cancer.
Richard Bentall
A turning point for many
“I hear voices in my head – but I’m fine” CLICK HERE
The real cause of my so-called schizophrenia symptoms was trauma – things I’d survived. … // … People who’ve survived adversity are far more likely to lose touch with reality. Symptoms point to meaningful distress – a turning point for many like it was for me.
First Person Story // Psychology Researcher
Richard Bentall’s article fully explores the old nature-nurture argument. He shows it’s mostly nature, not nurture.
If we don’t get it right, we land up treating millions of sufferers in completely the wrong way.
