Question: what is the main cause of mental health issues

Nadine Mirza answered on 9 Nov 2018: last edited 9 Nov 2018 11:50 pm

This is such an important question (thank you for asking it!) and I wish the answer was simple instead of so long but I wanted to give you as much info as I could!
When it comes to mental health there are LOTS of causes, none of which alone is the main one. It’s often a combination of causes.
Sometimes psychologists like to thing of causes in terms of the biopsychosocial model which means there are biological, psychological and social causes.
Biological causes are usually genetics. So things like depression and anxiety have a genetic link- your parents or grandparents could pass it down to you. You’re also more likely to develop mental health issues if you suffer from a physical issue as well. For example, people suffering from cancer could develop depression because of it or after giving birth women may sometimes hallucinate, hear voices or have irrational beliefs- this is called postpartum psychosis, which is rare but happens.
Psychological causes are things in you, like your self esteem and your coping skills. The less you have of these, the more likely you are to develop mental health issues.
Social causes are your environment and the people around you. Your childhood experiences, friendships and living circumstances all count towards your mental health. Someone who has lived in poverty or had a traumatic childhood would be more likely to have mental health issues.
Combinations of these biological, psychological and social causes dictate our mental health.

Another social cause is something scientists have been guessing at- that people may be struggling more with mental health because the human brain is struggling to catch up with how fast the world is developing. Basically, across history, between major discoveries there were huge gaps of time that the human mind could adapt to. From telegraphs to the telephone, from the wheel, to the first car, to the first plane, from the radio, to television to the first desktop computer, there were decades and decades in between that humans could get used to. But suddenly, in about the last twenty to thirty years, the modern world started improving very very VERY fast. We jumped in a very short span of time to a computer with internet, to wifi, to social media, to smart phones to a world where everyone is always online at all times and we’re all constantly connected and there are screens everywhere.
Even though these modern changes have been amazing and have so many benefits we’re also seeing that the human brain is not used to how fast everything is changing. And that’s why we might be seeing more of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.