Saturday, July 16, 2016

How do biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to produce specific psychological disorders? Don't just think about the disorders in the DSM-5, consider disorders such as eating disorders in Western cultures, Amok in Malaysia, Susto in Latin America, and Hikikomori in Japan. Find articles in peer-reviewed psychological journals that provide support for your answer.

This could be a tough question because the dividing line between biological and psychological is somewhat blurry. For instance, depression may be a psychological disorder, but to the extent that it is impacted or driven by the balance of neurotransmitters, it could be considered biological. Additionally, to the extent that psychological disorders are biologically based, not all predisposed individuals will exhibit symptoms. Often, the development of symptoms will follow identifiable environmental triggers, though long-term stress can be a common environmental trigger for a mental illness. This is one explanation for why mental illness is more prevalent among those of lower socio-economic class, who are more likely to suffer from long term stressors.
Schizophrenia is a good example of a mental illness impacted by all three issues. There are biological structural differences in the brain in many sufferers. Stress can be a common trigger, and psychological issues can impact the expression of the symptoms.

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