at the micro level, individuals do not only differ in their health behavior, physical (e.g. co-morbidity, genetics) and mental predispositions (e.g. self-management ability), but also in disease related risk factors accumulating during their life course.
But there are also internal factors, like pre-existing illnesses (physical or mental), a general predisposition to reacting badly to stressors for whatever reason (e.g. harsh life events, genetic factors), even something like having a big ego can make things worse (if your self-image is very important to you, then finding you can't deal with something will potentially stress you even more).
15, 17 However, factors that have not been evaluated in this study, including genetic predisposition, mental health and diet, may lead to residual confounding of the association.
As well as a genetic predisposition for mental illness in their offspring [ 8, 9], parents' mental health problems may affect the home environment and thus their children's psychosocial functioning and risk of developing mental illness [ 10- 12].
When people endure this "triple whammy of genetic predisposition [to mental illness and/or violent behaviour], childhood adversity and substance misuse," says Dr Amlan Basu, the hospital's clinical director, "it becomes a long-term project, putting them back together".
Dozens of genes contribute to the development of the disorders we call autism, schizophrenia, bipolar illness, severe depression and A.D.H.D. Two people with the same genetic predisposition to mental illness may manifest their conditions differently.
With The New Yorker May 16, 2016 If you could identify a piece of genetic code in a living embryo — one that could affect anything from gender and sexual orientation to a predisposition to mental illness — would you do anything to change that embryo's development?
It is possible that current laboratory assays are either not sufficiently sensitive or not an adequate reflection of the needs of brain cells, particularly in those individuals with an inherited predisposition for mental problems.
After adjusting for factors such as socioeconomic status and the use of other drugs, the researchers found that among young adults with a predisposition for mental illness, those who smoked pot were more likely to develop severe psychosis than those who abstained.
