We’ve come a long way in our study and learning with regards to mental health disorders. We know more now than we ever have with regards to how these mental disorders develop, how they’re treated and how people can keep them at bay after treatment. However, the results of a new study indicate that simply telling someone, “You have depression, so we need to treat that so you can put it in the past and move on with your life” may not be the correct approach. Instead, researchers have concluded in a study that people tend to experience shifting mental disorders throughout their lifetimes. This finding could reshape the way mental health is handled in the future.
Swift Recovery Solutions is a team of mental health professionals who serve those who need help in dealing with difficult and sometimes debilitating mental disorders. We have long been dedicated to continuing to learn as much as possible about the world of mental health so we can better help the people who need it. We’re going to delve into the details of this potentially groundbreaking study below and provide you with some information regarding what you can do if you or someone you love needs help with mental health in any way.
About the Study
The study itself contains more than one layer of data tracking and analysis. The data come from more than 1,000 participants who were given regular standardized psychiatric assessments that were designed to identify and track 17 different mental health disorders. The participants completed these assessments over the course of several decades. Their first assessments were completed at age 11, the last at age 45. These assessments were administered and recorded as part of the Dunedin Longitudinal Study in New Zealand. Researchers from Duke University in North Carolina examined the data to look for trends.
Examples of the disorders that were looked for in the data include:
- ADHD
- Substance abuse
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Eating disorders
- PTSD
- Mania
- Schizophrenia
- OCD
The assessments included neurocognitive exams that began at the outset of participation in the study and during adolescence. The participants also underwent neuroimaging analyses of their brains when they reached the age of 45.
The Surprising Results
Analysis of this research found that approximately one-third of the participants were dealing with at least the onset of a mental disorder by the age of 15. More than 86 percent of the participants met the criteria for at least one mental disorder by the time they finished the study at the age of 45. Perhaps most surprisingly, the researchers found that a person who simply suffered from one mental health disorder and then never faced another was not the norm based on that data. People who suffered from one mental disorder faced a much higher risk of developing others in the future.
This is a potentially stunning result, as it means that people who face mental disorders early in life tend to face a much higher probability of facing additional mental disorders as they age. Perhaps even more significantly, it means that even mental disorders that to this point have been thought of as completely different, meaning they are classified as internal, external and thought-based disorders respectively, may all be caused by the same genetic factors in the brain.
What does this all boil down to in one sentence? Mental disorders are diseases caused by problems in the brain. Therefore, mental health needs to be treated as an ongoing disease by medical professionals. Not to mention, this could alter the way that mental health professionals treat people who need help. The researchers laid out a few factors that led to increased vulnerability to mental disorders, including:
- The age of onset – the earlier someone faces a mental health problem, the more likely it is that such a person will face additional challenges later in life.
- The duration of the history of symptoms – The longer someone deals with symptoms of mental disorders, the more likely it is that a person would face additional problems.
- The number of different types of mental health symptoms – The more specific challenges someone faces, the more problems they’re going to face.
Based on the data uncovered by this study, those people tend to belong to one group. As such, the researchers recommended that mental health professionals handle those they treat with more of a long-term approach. If someone seeks help for depression, getting past that depression may not mean that there won’t be additional challenges with mental disorders down the road. Those who want to download and read the study can find it here.
How Swift Recovery Solutions Can Help
These findings tend to fall in line with how we handle things at Swift Recovery Solutions. When people come to us for help with different mental health disorders, we do not view the situation in a vacuum. Instead, we take the big-picture approach. We get to know everyone we help as much as possible so that we can find out what may be happening at the foundation. After all, failing to focus on the actual cause of mental disorders only means that a person is going to face additional difficulties in the future.
It also means that people who are suffering from mental disorders need to understand that they suffer from a medical problem, and certainly not a behavioral problem or any other type of superficial problem. When you work with us, we understand this and you’ll immediately realize that you are a person who needs help fighting a disease, the same as someone with pneumonia, cancer or a genetic disorder. If you are concerned about your mental health, we hope that you’ll take the all-important first step towards dealing with it by contacting us. We want to hear your story. We want to understand what’s happening. We want to help. Get started today so you can start living the life you deserve.
