Mental Illness is a very broad catagory, and there is not one etiology for all mental illness.
Some are certainly not biological or neurochemical in nature.
However, some, especially schizophrenia, severe bipolar disorder, severe OCD, almost certainly have a prominent neurochemical component to them.
The brain is the most complex organ, and it functions through complex biochemical interactions, just as other organs do. And, just as other organs can malfunction biologically, so can the brain.
The mind is an entirely different matter which involves more than biology.
Disorders that fall under the broad term Mental Illness can be disorders of the brain alone, something that involves the mind alone, or a combination of both.
As I said before, most anyone that has known people or worked with people afflicted with these severe forms of mental illness, like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe OCD, will have stories about how much of a positive difference medications can make in the life of the person suffering from the disorder. |
