Mental illness is largely caused by social crises such as unemployment or childhood abuse and too much money is spent researching genetic and biological factors, psychologists have warned. Over the past decade funding bodies like the Medical Research Council (MRC) have spent hundreds of millions on determining the biology of mental illness. But while there has been some success in uncovering genes which make people more susceptible to various disorders, specialists say that the true causes of depression and anxiety are from life events and environment, and research should be directed towards understanding the everyday triggers. Peter Kinderman, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Of course every single action, every emotion I’ve ever had involves the brain, so to have a piece of scientific research telling us that the brain is involved in responding emotionally to events doesn’t really advance our understanding very much." “And yet it detracts from the fact that when unemployment rates go up in a particular locality you get a measurable number of suicides." Almost half of adults will suffer from a mental health condition at some stage in their life and more than a third of GP surgery consultations are due to mental problems. One in four people have been diagnosed with some type of mental health problem - most commonly depression. In addition, 18 percent said they had suffered from such illness, but never been diagnosed. Yet the MRC spends just three percent of its research budget funding studies into mental illness, most of which goes towards genetics or neuroscience. The MRC said it was currently refreshing its strategic plan and was hoping to increase the amount of money allocated the mental health studies. Dr Jeff Barrett, who is working on uncovering the genes behind mental illness at the Wellcome Trust’s Sanger Institute said: “If we understand the fundamental biology of the disease it might be relevant in developing new ideas for therapies that are applicable to a wide range of patients." “So if by doing studies like this we can strongly implicate one area of biology it gives a new lead for drug companies to try to develop new therapies,” he concludes.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk