Is mental illness really caused by a chemical imbalance?

Question

how? Why dont everyone just take a antidepressant so know one will have problems with depression

Answer 1

occaisonally, but not always, often it is used as an excuse for peoples behavior or for depression when in fact most depressed people are simply living in a situation that they arent satisfied with

Answer 2

Most of them are.  

Answer 3

First and foremost, I can't believe some of the responses.  As a person with three diagnosed mental illnesses, I am very appalled.  I suppose you all have never suffered any type of mental illness before??

That being said, some of it is caused by a chemical imbalance, some is caused by other issues, and some is both.  And not all mental illness is depression-- keep that in mind.  There are A LOT of different mental illnesses out there-- from depression to schizophrenia, to borderline personality disorder, and many more.  The causes can be many, but yes, chemical imbalances can be one of those causes.

Answer 4

Yes different antidepressants work on different neurotransmiters in the brain.  

Answer 5

the problem iswe still don't understand most of the brain or its chemistry yet. Our anti-depressants are still very simple tools- most of brain chemistry is still too complex for us to understand completely.

There is growing belief in fact a lot of our drugs are making mental health even worse in the long term.

So maybe when we get better at making them it will be as simple as taking one pill.

Answer 6

Possibly.

Actually, mental illness can also be more likely in a son/daughter IF the mother or father also has a mental illness. So, technically speaking, mental illnesses can be caused by genetics. And people can't help their genes, so yeah, it's a sucky world.

The reason depressed people don't take antidepressents is because  most antidepressents have terrible sideeffects - such as drowsiness (and then they cannot drive their car).

Other reasons are because some depressed people are in denial that they are depressed, and refuse to take the medicine.

Or, depressed people will take the antidepressents for about 2-3 months then stop suddenly, because they think that they have been "Cured". In reality, the antidepressent intake must be slowly lowered (the doctor manages that part) until the person can function normally without them.  

Oh yeah, and a lot of depressed people just kill themselves anyways, before they can receive treatment.

Answer 7

Some are, depression and bipolar disorder definitely are, the jury is still out on Schizophrenia. Personality disorders have nothing to do with chemicals in the brain.

Is the a mental illness in particular you were thinking about?

There are a few different types of depression and each has a different optimal treatment programme.

Answer 8

Yes it is.

Answer 9

The brain is an amazingly complex organ. Science has only begun to understand how it functions. What is well known is that no two brains are exactly alike. To say that mental illness is caused by a chemical imbalance is an over simplification. However, it has been repeatedly shown that changing or re-balancing the amounts of certain chemicals in the brain can be very useful in the treatment of mental disorders. Antidepressants (which can also be used to treat some forms of anxiety) are thought to work by influencing the amount of these chemicals which are active within the brain.  

Answer 10

Based on my limited knowledge on the subject, yes mental illness such as depression is caused by disturbances in the level of the neurotransmitters in your brain.  Medications that treat depression and other mental illnesses aim to correct this imbalance.