Chapter 4, Who Gets Manic-Depressive Illness? Summary and Analysis

At one time, it was believed that mental disease was caused by psychological trauma. However, advances in medicine have shown that many mental illnesses have a physiological basis. The first thing most doctors will look at when taking on a new patient is family history. Studies have proven that most people with manic depressive illness have family members with mood disorders or other psychological disorders, such as unipolar depression. When this person with a mood disorder is a first degree relative, such as a mother or father, the chances the patient will eventually be diagnosed with manic depressive disorder increases. Researchers have pondered the idea of environment and its impact on a person developing the disease, but have learned after many studies that environment does not have as big an impact as genes...