What are the biological factors in mental illness?
The term “biological vulnerability” refers to people who are born with, or who acquire very early in life, a tendency to develop a problem in a specific medical area. For example, some people have a biological vulnerability to developing asthma, and other people have a biological vulnerability to developing high blood pressure or diabetes. Similarly, it is thought that people can have biological vulnerabilities to develop schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression. In mental illness, the part of the body that is affected is the brain, which is made up of billions of nerve cells (neurons) containing different chemicals (neurotransmitters). Scientists believe that mental illnesses are caused by imbalances in these neurotransmitters in the brain. As with other disorders, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, genetic factors play a role in the vulnerability to mental illness. The chances of a person developing depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia are higher if a
