A brand new study, led by Texas A&M researchers, published in Nature, shows just how deep a genetic overlap there is among many mental health conditions, which Dr. Daniel Amen accurately notes should be called “brain health” issues. Because this is about health as much as any other health condition.
The study offers data to support why so many people suffer from more than one brain health condition (and I’ll add that there are other such studies, such as this one).
It’s not because these patients are “overdiagnosed,” as the common talking point says these days, and it’s not because they’re making things up, as the healthy often claim.
No, it’s probably because of these deep genetic connections among disorders.
I’d suggest reading Fox News’ great piece on the study, but here are a couple nuggets from a DNA sample of 1 million folks who had any of these brain health conditions vs. 5 million who didn’t.
First, helpfully, the researchers organized the patients into five groups – those with compulsive disorders such as OCD and anorexia, those with neurodevelopment disorders such as autism, internalizing disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD and finally, substance use disorders.
Fox News:
Each pattern is linked to 238 tiny differences that influence how the brain works and offer clues about why some conditions overlap while others differ. Some traits, like suicidal thoughts and loneliness, were linked to all five patterns.
For the schizophrenia-bipolar group, the strongest genetic links were found in brain cells that send “go” signals and help enable communication between different regions.
In contrast, internalizing disorders (like depression, anxiety and PTSD) are more strongly linked to cells that help brain signals travel faster, the researchers found.
“By uncovering shared genetic roots, we can start thinking about treatments that target multiple disorders instead of treating each one in isolation,” said co-author John Hettema, M.D., Ph.D., in the release.
Now here’s the key nugget — as Dr. Amen tells Fox News:
“This new study confirms that mental health disorders share deep genetic connections, especially involving brain development and synaptic function….. What this means is that conditions like depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and ADHD aren’t isolated silos — they’re part of overlapping biological systems that start in the brain, often as early as in utero.”
Regular readers of my blog will know what I’ll say next.
So here it is — as a church, we absolutely have to stop treating mental health as though it’s not physical health.
We can’t put it in a separate category from orthopedic health, except to say one involves the brain and the other the bones.
And finally, we absolutely can’t shame, stigmatize, or mock brain health conditions as if they a) don’t exist or b) are reflections of spiritual deficiencies.
To do so isn’t just physical malpractice, it’s spiritual malpractice. It’s almost abuse, and I don’t use that term lightly.
There have been far too many Christians traumatized by the church’s attitude towards brain health, there have been far too many Christians who continue to suffer in agony as their very real brain health conditions are dismissed as fake or a lack of faith.
There are deep genetic roots to these conditions. If someone says their doctor has diagnosed them with XYZ brain health conditions, thank God they’re on the way to getting treatment.
Thank the Lord for scientists who are studying data that will help patients get the help they need. And I pray to the Lord the church sits up and takes notice of studies such as these, so that we can, in fact, move to the forefront of caring for the sick. We have a pretty good history of caring for obvious physical conditions, but not such a great one for brain health conditions.
Please Lord, may that change.
If you struggle with depression, anxiety, or any other such disorders — for readers in the United States… please read Smith’s book.
And…
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.
For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.
[Painting: Woman with a Guitar, Picasso]
