If you have Depression and a number of other brain conditions like OCD, Bipolar, ADHD etc., and are wondering why you’ve been hit with such a triple or quadruple whammy of illnesses, there’s a scientific reason and basis.
It’s absolutely important that you understand that (for your own mental health) and that the Christian community recognize it, as well. For how the church treats victims.
First, let’s get to the science.
As Science Alert notes, a massively important study in 2019 by an international team of researchers found that 109 genes are associated with in different combinations with eight psychiatric disorders — Major Depressive Disorder, ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Autism, Anorexia, Schizophrenia, and Tourette Syndrome.
It was a correlational study and gave an indisputable scientific basis for why so many people with one of those conditions also bears the burden of carrying another one.
That wasn’t just a huge leap for science, but also for anyone suffering from this and the stigma surrounding the disease.
Often, if you have a condition, are diagnosed with another, and another, you start to wonder – what’s going on? Am I just being overdiagnosed? Am I making this up? What’s happening? That can wreak further havoc on your mental health.
Moreover, it contributes to the existing stigma surrounding these disorders, particularly in conservative Christian communities.
I single out this particular community because often times, conservative Christians are extremely leery of “overdiagnose” culture and carry a strong Protestant Work Ethic, wherein they can be more prone to view someone carrying many diagnoses as demonstrating a kind of hysteria to disengage from being “a productive member of society.”
I’ve seen this, over and over.
This unwitting error and naive assumption can be devastating for victims in those communities.
That’s why I wish the 2019 study was actually mentioned in the pulpit and that church leaders would actively look into this.
If leaders are going to shepherd their flock with the kind of grace God calls them to, they need to understand those sheep and be careful not to spiritualize what’s clearly a medical problem.
I say that with utmost respect for church leaders and anyone in that often-thankless role that God will reward richly in the life to come. I deeply respect genuinely faithful ministers who are following God’s calling on their lives, even when it often feels hopeless (church leaders report fairly significant levels of mental health problems themselves and, often, loneliness is a contributing factor).
But we have to pay attention the 2019 study and all the empirical evidence that leads in the direction of offering Christians the joy of knowing their “faith issue” is not, in fact, a faith issue but a medical issue.
Okay, so having said that, onto the current research results…
It’s been six years since the 2019 study.
And plenty of questions remain – yes, the ’19 study revealed fascinating and compelling genetic links in the architecture of these brain disorders.
But what’s the mechanism?
Well, a team has been studying the issue and just released its findings in a brand new paper, published in Cell Magazine.
Here’s Science Alert’s key bit on the study.
Each of these eight conditions also has gene differences that are unique to them individually, so Won and team compared the unique genes with those shared between the disorders.
So what did the researchers find?
Genetic variants behind multiple seemingly unrelated traits, or in this case conditions, are called pleiotropic. The pleiotropic variants were involved in many more protein-to-protein interactions than the gene variants unique to specific psychological conditions, and they were active across more types of brain cells.
Pleiotropic variants were also involved in regulatory mechanisms that impact multiple stages of brain development. The ability of these genes to impact cascades and networks of processes, such as gene regulation, could explain why the same variants can contribute to different conditions.
So what does that mean? I have no scientific idea. I’m a layperson.
But what does it mean for those afflicted with any medical condition like these? Possible treatment down the road!
So says one of the study authors, University of North Carolina geneticist Hyejung Won, to Science Alert.
“….if we can understand the genetic basis of pleiotropy, it might allow us to develop treatments targeting these shared genetic factors, which could then help treat multiple psychiatric disorders with a common therapy.”
Now that’s a down-the-road kind of thing.
But this is why, for you and me right now, for the church right now, it’s so important to post studies like these.
They’re compelling evidence that people who say “I have XYZ” disorders aren’t just out there trying to get attention or get off without “being productive members of society” (what an awful and cruel assumption from the skeptical).
There is a genetic link among all these conditions, and now we’re starting to understand the mechanism by which all this happens.
If more Christians knew that, then the greatest Christian virtues — love, grace, kindness — would be on full display instead of the worst tendencies of mankind and some Christians, too (including me) – to judge others and dispirit the already dispirited.
I praise the Lord that there are studies like this now that confirm what so many have felt in shame without understanding in relief, before research came along.
And I thank the researchers for doing the Lord’s work on this. Now we have to do ours, as we try to strike down the stigma surrounding this issue.
So feel free to share that study with your pastor! It might help a lot of people.
If you’re struggling (as I do) with depression, anxiety, or any other mood disorder (all medical conditions)….
For readers in the United States…
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
For readers, internationally, seek help from a local resource.
For salvation, Christ and Christ alone.
[Photo: Pexels, free to use, Brett Sayles]
