Dec 6, 2009 4:58:59 AM cite

The origin of mental illness in Greek and Roman times and in the middle ages was thought to be demonic possession. The Greek physician Hippocrates however thought otherwise, in short he thought it was an imbalance of bodily fluids essentially a chemical imbalance. In the late nineteenth century most notably Sigmund Freud came along and learned many things about mental illness. Carl Jung possibly the most knowledgeable psychiatrist of all time expanded this knowledge. Very basically mental disease falls into two categories. Chemical imbalances and damage to neurological tissue, and other physical disorders including genetic predisposition and secondly problems that are Psyche oriented. Psyche oriented problems are what Freud and Jung and Adler treated with psychological therapy. Oddly they had more success than do the psychologists of today and I think that there is a reason for that. The reason being is that there are more triggers or conditions for mental disease to occur nowadays. In the far past there were fewer mental illnesses but as civilization progressed or should I say regressed so did problems in the psyche. At birth we have imprinted in our brains archetypical images that offer a basic structure for personality or psyche development, and we throughout our lives develop and change them to become who we are. When we come across situations that conflict with who we are conflicts arise. Carl Jung’s developed treatments for war related illness that is now called post traumatic stress syndrome. But any conflict in the psyche can cause mental illness. Basically this is doing things that are not compatible with the personality we have developed. We are constantly doing things that we know are wrong, mankind is rife with conflicts; one may say that we thrive on them. We also are estranged from the natural world and have developed an unnatural environment. We are not connected to the earth in a way that other animals are and do not follow nature’s ways but contrive ways to rise above and control it. So some mental illnesses are the result of not being who we are.

by Thai sean

Dec 5, 2009 8:15:52 PM cite

Mental Illnesses come about by a chemical imbalance, misfiring neurons, or any other mal-formation of the brain. The medications given, depending on the diagnosed illness, regulates the chemicals needed, and sometimes adds the elements needed to function as a "normal" person in society. Dosage of the medication is important as well. If you have a too high of dosage, it can cause an adverse effect from what you wanted. If it is too low, there is no progress in "normalizing" the patient. It would be hard to go into detail about how they work and what mental illness is what. There are simply too many. There is no definition as to what causes it. It can be caused from fetal damage, to envriomental causes, to genetics, and you can't forget substance abuse. Normally, there is an interview process that takes place to help determine these things, so something that may cause something from one, may not cause something for another. If anything, i would make a trip down to the local library for more information.

by Roark Thurston