why have the mental illnesses not been removed during evolution through natural selection like other genes?
143720
Let's name three genes A/a, B/b, C/c. Capitals indicate the dominant one. Let's say you need a aa bb cc combination to be schizophrenic. \n\nPeople who have any of the recessives is smarter than average. Those with two recessives are geniuses. Those with three, crazy. Let's say the recessive is 1/10th as common as the dominant.\n\nThen we have ratios: ABC = 72.9%, aBC/AbC/ABc = 24.3%, abC/aBc/Abc = 2.7%, abc = 0.1%.\n\nWhich means we have one out of four people be "above average" in intelligence, 1 out of 40 to be genius or near-genius, and one out of a thousand to be schizophrenic.\n\nThe biological pay-off of the genes reaches an equilibrium at the point where the benefits to the species (above average, geniuses) outweigh the harm (schizophrenics); in other words, when the benefits are maximized.\n\nWere these recessive genes to disappear, not only would the schizophrenics go away, but also the geniuses. Were these genes to be even less common, the ratio of geniuses would be to low to produce any real benefit to the species.
298215
Because it is the easiest way.  It also prevents the person from feeling any guilt or personal responsibility for the illness to treat it with medication, because this is to imply that there is a completely physiological cause of the illness.  Someone with the flu cannot help it that they have the flu, and so someone with mental illnes cannot help it if they have a mental illness.....at least that is what doctors are trying to make people believe.\n\nNow, in some cases, I believe there is a 100% physiological cause of mental illness.  But I honestly believe that in most cases, there is more than just a physiological element.  There is an emotional, cognitive, and spiritual element as well, which are more important.\n\nIn the case of depression, medicine can replenish the chemicals which have been used up on account of stress.  And if these chemicals are not replenished, it will truly be difficult for any cognitive or other therapy to have any real effect.  But once the chemicals are replenished, there must be some therapy for the person, so that they can learn how to handle stress in more productive ways, so that they will not need medication again.\n\nThe problem is, good therapy is so rare as to almost be non-existent.  So the therapy doesn't help much.  But the medicine has an immediate noticeable effect.  And therefore, people are more and more relying solely on medication.
1173064
Many mental illnesses run in families, suggesting that the illnesses may be passed on from parents to children through genes. Genes contain instructions for the function of each cell in the body and are responsible for how we look, act and think. \n\nBut, just because your mother or father may have a mental illness doesn't mean you will have one. Hereditary just means that you are more likely to get the condition than if you didn't have an affected family member. \n\nExperts believe that many mental conditions are linked to problems in multiple genes -- not just one, as with many diseases -- which is why a person inherits a susceptibility to a mental disorder, but doesn't always develop the condition. \n\nThe disorder itself occurs from the interaction of these genes and other factors -- such as psychological trauma and environmental stressors -- which can influence, or trigger, the illness in a person who has inherited a susceptibility to it. \nUnfortunately, most mental illnesses are caused by a combination of factors and cannot be prevented.
655645
This is true especially in the field of psychiatry.  The criteria in psychiatry's bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness are vague and ill-defined.  There is no objective test such as a blood test to determine if someone has a mental illness, and psychiatrists constantly create new categories of mental illness by voting them into existence at their conventions.  Psychiatric diagnoses, needless to say, are very controversial.
580017
Sorry, it doesn't make sense. Structurally it is OK, but logically I don't get it. Stop them from getting a disease - like preventive, cleanliness etc? \n\nNatural selection - like whether the child is strong enough to overcome the disease? Your ability to fight is not just physical though. It is very much mental. Your thoughts have power. Your attitude has power. Very much influence comes from the parents beliefs and attitude and love. \n\nIt is not always natural selection, because we are spiritual beings. And that spirit can have an effect on the physical, in miraculous ways sometimes.\n\nRe: only be able to cure diseases and not prevent them? Remember this is how drug companies make money. Everyone has a disease and everyone needs medicine for it. That mentality is the onset of so many health problems. Our health is controlled by greed.
425813
Actually the more general answer (evolution) is probably better for this specific question. As I read it, the question is asking: how do alternative versions of genes (changes) appear in a population and then how are they maintained (accumulated)? Not all variation is maintained by natural selection, the other causes of evolution have an effect - drift, migration, nonrandom mating. Mutation is also a cause of evolution although, in the context of this specific question, it's probably better to describe it as the origin/source of the changes.
274712
Over the centuries and millenia, persons with mental disorders have been vilified and feared.  Persons with disorders have been drugged, locked away, chained to walls, shunned from society, killed, been used as experiments for brain exploration (such as holes drilled in their heads, lobotomys on their brains performed), etc.\n\nOnly in the recent decades has mental illness found a more receptive audience in the Medical Community as well as the General Public, with the recognition that many of the problems can be altered or treated with medications and social interventions.\n\nOne of the recent problems developing has been attempts by the Government to reduce the expense of caring for these sorts of individuals in large sequestered groups by attempting to place them into the community.  OStensibly this was supposed to make life better for them, but, in fact, has made things worse since there are fewer interventions available and less direct supervision.\n\nMany of these individuals have committed crimes (whether intentional or not) and have simply been moved from close supervision in Facilities to Prisons and Jails.. a different sort of institution but with basically the same sorts of controls they need to function with their limitations.\n\nUntil the government realizes that there is an actual and real need for sequestering for safely and monitoring, persons will continue to get lost in between the cracks.\n\nMy sons are both Autistic, and the strides made even in the last decade has been remarkable.
719573
We could evolve into idiots, even by evolutionary theory- All the theory really states is that any trait which increases the number of viable offspring will become predominant.  If, for example, it turns out that high intelligence somehow reduces the number of offspring (which may very well be true, for any number of reasons including social adaptability in highly intelligent people), and that given the mass movement of people today that all highly intelligent people marry each other, then we would have a situation where slowly those genes were lost.  You dont need a glitch in evolutionary theory to see that as a possibility.
380300
It is not an abnormality, nor is it a disease. It is a normal, naturally occuring state of existance.Nor is it a mental illness.Homosexuality was removed from the DSM in the late '60's.
193079
I read once (many years ago) that Native American communities have the highest rate of suicide and depression of any group of people.\n\nI don't think suicide is genetic but a predisposition to depression can be.\n\nAs for how it affects people you might want to look up studies on it. I'm sure someone has looked into this.
690725
Some Axis 1 illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are very likely to run in families and there have been many studies (identical twins separated at birth have been especially helpful) to support this.  Other illnesses, like PTSD and personality disorders, are mostly due to environment--though a person may have a genetic predispotion to develop them.  Mental illnesses are defined and diagnosed according to symptoms and behaviors; there really aren't many physically discernable/measurable characteristics.  For example, a blood sample can provide evidence of an infection because of the prescence of viral cells or bacteria, but a doctor can't look at the same sample and see a traumatic childhood or wildly fluctuating dopamine levels (at least not yet).  Since a few illnesses so commonly run in families, doctors may use heredity as a guide when they make a diagnosis, but they would still need to see a patient exhibit symptoms.  Genetics may be a key component to some mental illness, but it isn't everything by a long shot.  For example, having a schizophrenic twin doesn't suggest that a person is schizophrenic nearly as much as lining your hat in aluminum foil to keep government sattelites from controlling your brain.
1132905
It is so nice to know that mental illness is alive and breeding. I'm not sure of your source on this one but it is safe to say that you should believe the funny papers. Thanks for the laugh.
837558
its because in society people assume that a mental illness is something that affects us emotionally which is not the case, its an actual chemical imbalance in your brain because the neurons are not flowing right. People need to be educated more on this and maybe the stigma will stop eh
135543
No. Mutations are the ultimate source of genetic _variation_, but this random variation is shaped by various evolutionary forces (natural selection, genetic drift, migration, selective mating...).\n\n"If these spontaneous mutations are truly spontaneous than will the environmental changes caused from the worlds industrialization have an effect on the rate and manner of which these bases are put together to form amino's within protein structures which will change our genotype therefore being expressed within our phenotype?" \n--> Most mutations are either neutral (have no effect on fitness) or deletereous (have negative or mortal effects). There are pollutants that can cause increased mutations but those are usually negative and are not incorporated into the gene pool of the human population.\n\n\n"If we evolve to our environment than will the chemicals we put into our ecosystem have a gradual but significant impact on our evolutionary path?" \n--> You mean that we should go on polluting and see if any mutations arise that make us "immune" to our own contamination? I wouldn't recommend that. \n\n"... we may have to save ourselves from ourselves in order to survive by mastering and altering genetics through the deletion of the genes within chromosomes that cause undesirable genetic diseases within the gametes before artificial conception.The next step in mans' evolution is the deletion of bad genes to survive in a tainted world.After technology advances to an even higher level we must master the addition of beneficial genes through advanced genetic engineering."\n<-- We cannot do that. It will be a long time before we even begin to understand how our genome works (relatively tiny parts are know now). If we ever do that (outside movies) then I'm afraid it won't be a very equal world for everyone. \nAnd in addition: there is no such thing as GOOD or BAD genes. Any trait is well adjusted only with respect to its environment; by eliminating some characteristics that you deem "bad", you might be erasing the chance to adapt to future changes. That's why the conservation of genetic diversity is important.
849658
It's a gradual process, you'd never notice it.  It generally works like this: attractive people with talents that make money provide the resources for their children to be likewise successful.  These people are less likely to die than most people (better healthcare, less violent neighborhoods, etc.) and as such pass on their traits more readily.  It's an everyday process.\n\nThe modern trend in evolution is a focus away from disease resistance.  Once diseases would often kill people before they would have children, and so those that did have children would be on average 'healthier'.  In the advanced world today (Japan, western Europe, the US, etc.) this is less of an issue, so people with favorable traits in other respects but less 'genetic health' are more likely to pass on their genes.
1181134
wow...didn't know all that...good info...i agree..it is a type of mental disorder...kinda like over eaters, thieves, drunkards, and so on....people who say it has been around for a long time and say its normal...so has murder is that normal...and if it is so normal...why does is go against natural law...they can't reproduce themselves...how does it exist if it is not a mental condition? so i guess we made the wrong decision...
1182299
I'm concerned that science has gotten in the way of evolution.  Nature has promoted the "survival of the fittest". The strong live and reproduce and  the weak don't.\n\nTherefore if some animal's DNA causes them to have weak eyes, or defective heart then that person would not survive or be selected by the opposite sex for reproducing.  But with our science and medical knowledge we correct those problems and that person goes on to reproduce offspring and pass those defective genes to the next generation. \n\nIt wouldn't be long before they phrase "Your kid looks just like you" will no longer be said. Surgery will have changed your face, hair color, chest size, and any thing else you can imagine.