28 votes

Why do so many mental illnesses overlap? A concept called the “p factor” attempts to explain why psychiatric disorders cannot be clearly separated

Posted by Gaywallet
Tags: mental illness, disorders.psychiatric, p factor, author.ingrid wickelgren, source.scientificamerican, paywall
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-so-many-mental-illnesses-overlap/

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Title
Why Do So Many Mental Illnesses Overlap?
Authors
Ingrid Wickelgren
Word count
2700 words

8 comments

  1. [3]
    cfabbro
    Link
    Mirror, for those hit by the paywall: https://archive.is/0uesC

    Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
    https://archive.is/0uesC

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      carnage431
      Link Parent
      Again with the exemplary?

      Again with the exemplary?

      4 votes
      1. cfabbro
        Link Parent
        Yeah. :/ @Deimos, can you remove the Exemplary from my comment please? Whoever did it, I appreciate the sentiment, but Exemplary shouldn't be used for something as minor as providing a mirror link.

        Yeah. :/ @Deimos, can you remove the Exemplary from my comment please? Whoever did it, I appreciate the sentiment, but Exemplary shouldn't be used for something as minor as providing a mirror link.

        9 votes
  2. [4]
    vord
    (edited )
    Link
    So, this is a bit tangent, but this, especially the art, reminded me of something I remember but am unsure the accuracy of... It's something about a way to screen users of psychadelics to...

    So, this is a bit tangent, but this, especially the art, reminded me of something I remember but am unsure the accuracy of...

    It's something about a way to screen users of psychadelics to determine if they are more likely to have a bad trip. Something about a rotating mask on a stick.

    Edit:
    An older article about the early study of psychadelics and mental disorders. Including one woman who was initially diagnosed schizophrenic and later manic depressive. This reminded me that the thing I vaguely recall had something to do with these early experiments and/or the apread throughout the hippy community in the 60s.

    7 votes
    1. Wolf_359
      Link Parent
      Not to derail actual scientific discussion here, but I have always had a pretty good sixth sense about who would enjoy psychedelics and who wouldn't. People like me don't enjoy them. People like...

      Not to derail actual scientific discussion here, but I have always had a pretty good sixth sense about who would enjoy psychedelics and who wouldn't.

      People like me don't enjoy them. People like my brother do. I think a lot of it relates to how much control you need in your life. If you're always trying to control your mood, your environment, your circumstances, then you probably won't enjoy these drugs. If you're a go-with-the-flow person who doesn't get worked up very easily, you have a better chance of enjoying the experience.

      I think you can tell a lot about a person by their drug of choice. Probably even more by which drugs they don't like.

      9 votes
    2. [2]
      eggpl4nt
      Link Parent
      Woah, that sounds really cool. How would I learn more about this?

      Woah, that sounds really cool. How would I learn more about this?

      2 votes
      1. vord
        Link Parent
        Sadly I don't remember any more than that. If my neurons kick into gear more and I remember, I'll update the post.

        Sadly I don't remember any more than that. If my neurons kick into gear more and I remember, I'll update the post.

        2 votes
  3. skybrian
    Link
    Many good things are correlated, and so are many bad things. In this case, many genes seem to have small effects that aren't specific to any disease:

    Many good things are correlated, and so are many bad things. In this case, many genes seem to have small effects that aren't specific to any disease:

    Since then researchers have followed suit for almost all the other major psychiatric disorders—including ADHD, PTSD, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)—and found a number of genes common to all of them. Together, the full complement of these genes has been termed “genetic p,” a kind of biological lever that controls psychiatric risk. “It is a statistical abstraction,” Plomin says, “but it’s very important because it points to the fact that many genes are general in their effects” on mental well-being.

    Investigators are now trying to understand what the biological roles of these genes might be. In 2019 a team conducted a GWAS across psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as depression, anorexia, autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in a nationwide Danish birth cohort of almost 1.5 million people. It found genetic variants that were common to these conditions that had roles in fetal neurodevelopment. “As the brain develops, it’s really a critical period of time where a lot of these biological processes are manifesting”—processes that may shape psychiatric risk, says Gandal, who is one of the authors of the study.

    5 votes