It’s Elusive –

June 8, 2019 – “We need to go upstream a bit more.” According to World Health Organization, about one in eight people or 970 million individuals suffered from some sort of mental disorder in 2017, and the numbers seeking treatment are soaring. “There is no epidemic of mental illness sweeping the world, but there is much more talk about it and more people are being treated.  “There are things we can do, but we don’t know enough about them and they fall outside the health system,” says Whiteford. “It’s not blood pressure, cholesterol and stopping smoking. The risk factors are child abuse, domestic violence, bullying, genetics.  A recent paper in the journal Lancet Psychiatry pinpointed key risk factors that may lead to mental illness. In broad chronological order, they include genetics, early brain trauma, childhood abuse and/or lack of stimulation, bullying, substance abuse, social adversity, shock and trauma, exposure to violence both domestic and military, immigration and social isolation.

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