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Biology or Psychology? (Written 20 years ago)

Posted by SLS on November 30, 2021, at 9:34:40

This was written in the year 2000. Originally designed to educate the staff of a local mental health clinic, it is rather crude and simplistic. However, at the time, there was little acceptance of the psychobiological underpinnings of mental illnesses. The staff was effectively sabotaging people who were trying to free themselves of pain, and function independently in society. I actually disguised this as a newsletter meant to be distributed to the clients / patients along with the staff. By 2009, the entire staff was administering to their client population using a psychobiological model of mental illness. I can't be sure of the roll that my short essay played in this shift in treatment models of the clinic. I hope it played little or no roll. I prefer to think that this change in perspective was the result of a change in the education of mental health professionals.

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BIOLOGY OR PSYCHOLOGY?

The best answer to this question may be either and both.

* "The brain determines the mind as the mind sculpts the brain.."


Most of us here have been diagnosed as having a major mental illness. Mental
illnesses are not mental weaknesses. The diagnoses that we are most familiar
with include:

* Major Depressive Disorder (MDD - Unipolar Depression)
* Bipolar Disorder (BD - Manic Depression)
* Dysthymia (Minor Depression)
* Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
* Schizophrenia
* Schizoaffective Disorder
* Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
* Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
* Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
* Social Anxiety Disorder
* Panic Disorder

All of these illnesses have one thing in common. They are not our fault. Each
disorder has both biological and psychological components. We all begin our
lives with a brain that is built using the blueprints contained within the genes we
inherit from our parents. Later, hormones change the brain to prepare it for
adulthood. It is continually being changed by the things we experience. The
brain determines the mind as the mind sculpts the brain. Unfortunately, the brain
can also be changed in negative ways by things such as drugs, alcohol, injury,
trauma, and chronic stress.

How we think and feel are influenced by our environment. Probably the most
important environment during our development is that of the family, with the
most important time being our childhood. We all have both positive and
negative experiences as we travel through life. How we are as adults is in large
part determined by these positive and negative experiences. They affect our
psychology, our emotions, and our behaviors. All of us can be hurt by unhealthy
negative experiences.

Some of us are also hurt by unhealthy brains. Medical science has long
recognized that many mental illnesses are actually biological disorders. Even
Sigmund Freud, who we know for his development of psychoanalysis,
proposed a role for biology in mental illness. He was, after all, a neurologist.
The first solid evidence for this concept in modern times came with the
discovery of lithium in 1947. Lithium was found to reduce the symptoms of
bipolar disorder (manic- depression) or cause them to disappear completely,
allowing previously disabled people to lead normal lives. Lithium helps to
correct for the abnormal neurotransmission in the brain that is the cause of
bipolar disorder. Subsequent medical discoveries included the observations that
the drug, chlorpromazine / Thorazine (an antipsychotic), successfully treated
schizophrenia, and that imipramine / Tofranil (a tricyclic antidepressant)
successfully treated depression. Again, these drugs help to correct for the
abnormal biology of the brain that accompanies these disorders. Since then, a
great many drugs have been added to the arsenal of doctors to treat mental
illness. In addition, there are some newer brain stimulation techniques that work
without the need for medication.

Thorazine (an antipsychotic), successfully treated schizophrenia, and that
Tofranil (an antidepressant) successfully treated depression. Again, these drugs
help to correct for the abnormal biology of the brain that accompanies these
disorders. Since then, a great many drugs have been added to the arsenal of
doctors to treat mental illness. In addition, there are some newer brain
stimulation techniques that work without the need for medication.

What about psychology? What role does it play in mental illness? This can be a
two-way street. The abnormal biology that occurs with some mental illnesses
affects our psychology - how we think, feel, and behave. On the other hand,
our psychology can also affect our biology. As we now know, the emotional
stresses and traumas we experience change the way our brains operate. This is
especially true of things we experience during childhood. These stresses can
trigger the induction of abnormal brain function that leads to major depression,
bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other major mental illnesses. In order for
this to happen, however, there must be a genetic or some other biological
vulnerability to begin with.

It is important to remember that not all psychological and emotional difficulties
are biological in origin. Again, we are all products of our environments family,
friends, enemies, school, work, culture, climate, love, war, etc. Environments
that are unhealthy often produce unhealthy people. However, this, too, is not
our fault.

In conclusion, regardless of the cause of our mental illnesses, it is important that
we treat both the biological and the psychological. We will all benefit most if we
do.


- SLS


Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

 

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