Root and Seed
The Bottom of It All
“That person is a psycho”. “She’s such an OCD clean-freak”. “He’s such an evil person that he must be mentally ill”. With so much stigma surrounding mental illness that the mere suggestion that someone has it is an insult, it’s hard to find out what a disorder actually is and how it really affects people. So when I started looking at data about mental health issues for a previous project, I found something interesting- almost all the information that was available to me only explained the symptoms of various disorders, and, if I was lucky, the prevalence. I could barely find anything on where they came from. I decided to narrow my focus onto personality disorders specifically, as they were the group of mental illnesses I knew the least about, and starting researching what causes them to surface. According to the DSM 5, or the fifth volume of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, personality disorders are sorted into one of three groups, called clusters; Cluster A, the ‘odd, eccentric’ cluster; Cluster B, the ‘dramatic, unpredictable’ cluster; and Cluster C, the ‘anxious, fearful’ cluster. I sought out to find out if there was a single cause in each of the clusters that triggered the development of their disorders, and my research yielded some surprising results.
Nature Versus Nurture
Tracking down the exact causes of personality disorders can be a difficult thing to do. In “Where personality goes awry” by Charlotte Huff, a staff member of the American Psychological Association, she states that there had barely been any large-scale investigations into these psychological phenomenons as of 2004 when the article was published. Huff states that researchers had recently found a malfunctioning gene common among the brains of citizens with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders, and this genetic factor is supported by data showing that OCPD tends to run in families. From this finding, it is easy to assume that other personality disorders are biologically-based as well, as defective genes seem like a reasonable explanation behind abnormal behavior. However, from the same article, “Studies continue to indicate that abuse, even verbal abuse, can amplify the risk of developing a personality disorder”, and though correlation does not necessarily equal causation, studies continuously show that there is at least some relation to personality disorder development and environment. This begs the question of when personality disorders manifest if genetics or the environment is the bigger factor, and whether or not that applies to all or just one cluster of them.
Although it is commonly agreed upon that both environmental and biological factors contribute to disorder development, they are both umbrella terms. Within ‘environmental factors’ and ‘biological factors’ a wide variety of possible causes still exists, and scientists do not know which are more significant than others. According to “What causes personality disorders?”, which was adapted from Huff’s aforementioned article and expands on her points, five of the most likely factors are listed. These include genetics (genetic), childhood trauma, verbal abuse, high reactivity and peers (all environmental). In a study of nearly eight-hundred pairs of mothers and children, it was found that children who reported that their mother had screamed at them or said other harsh statements, such as threatening to kick out the child, were three times more likely to develop a Cluster B disorder. Though at least Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder can be likely attributed to genes, as previously stated, this study seems to show that verbal abuse from a parental figure can also be a cause behind a personality disorder, and presumably other environmental factors as well.
With what little research on personality disorders there is available, it seems apparent that the disorders owe their existence to biological and environmental factors. But can a disorder develop due to the effects of only one factor, and which is the more influential one? Simone Hoermann Ph.D, Corinne E. Zupanik Psy.D, and Mark Dombeck Ph.D provide an answer in “What Causes Personality Disorders?”. The article begins with summing up the common theory; “Broadly speaking, there are two interrelated factors” contributing to developing one’s personality, and by extension, personality disorders- referring to genetic and environmental, of course. Hoermann, Zupanik and Dombeck state that both are vital, and that a personality disorder cannot develop solely under the influence of one factor. Again, it is stated that there have not been enough studies done on all types of personality disorders to come to a solid conclusion about the causation of them, but the trio of authors present a nature-versus-nurture scenario to explain how either side can contribute. On the nature side, the three address what studies have been done in terms of biological affect, such as Schizotypal Personality Disorder more commonly diagnosed in families who have had at least one schizophrenic member, and how even those diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, a Cluster B disorder that had been previously mentioned to be more likely in people who had been subject to verbal abuse in childhood, tend to come from families with a history of impulsive aggression. And in the nurture section, it is explained how children do not reach a solid personality until they are near adolescent age, and so traumatic events that occur prior to this period can have a major impact on how the personality is ultimately formed; this has been supported through various studies which show a connection between traumatic childhood events and disorders.
The Very Same Gene
Beginning this project, the solid idea that I had in my head was that I was to write a paper on the common root cause of each cluster of personality disorders. The more I researched the more I found my topic developing into something deeper, and the more curious I became. I was no longer simply wondering if a rough childhood could make someone prone to a Cluster B disorder- I was now engaged in finding out if all disorders came from our genes or our surroundings. And according to my data, the answer to that is both.
One of the strongest ‘Eureka!’ moments I’ve had in the course of gathering my research was when I had just finished reading about studies on genetic pre-dispositions to certain disorders, like in Huff’s article where it’s stated that children with Borderline Personality Disorder, for example, tend to come from families with aggressive tendencies. Immediately after I had finished that section, I moved onto another one, where the article talked about the effects abuse- verbal or physical- can have on a child, which can cause the child to develop a disorder later on.
And though it seems obvious in hindsight, I suddenly made the connection that the base reason that can cause a child to grow into a disorder later on in life is the same reason the parent may be yelling at the child in the first place. A child with a disorder that is equal parts environmental triggers and genetic pre-disposition shares the same biological tendencies as their parent. The parents has the same susceptibility to the disorder as the child, and it may present itself in the way they act towards their children. The parent may not have gone through any environmental factors that had caused the disorder to fully develop, or they may have and it’s undiagnosed, but either way, the fact that the same people who caused someone to develop a disorder could have been acting upon the same potential to develop the same disorder put my findings in a whole other perspective for me.
Originally, I named the idea that there is a common cause within the clusters ‘The Root and Seed Theory’, with the ‘root’ and ‘seed’ being the causes. But as I worked more through the paper and gathered more information, I was pleased that the theory name I had come up with was even more fitting than I thought- the ‘root’, which is a plant’s foundation, is the genetic pre-disposition. A plant’s roots are below ground where no one can see them. Yet the plant will not grow until the ‘seed’ is planted- the seed now being the environmental event that triggers the disorder to surface.
I want to present this theory to readers to prompt them to learn their family’s mental health history. Just as doctors recommend doing with physical health, I want to encourage people to become familiar with what mental conditions have shown up in their family tree so they know what they may be at risk of, and if there is already a developed mental health issue present, knowing what other family members developed may help to identify the issue and can help professionals give proper treatment.
Inherited Risks and Inner Peace
With the data I’ve collected and analyzed, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no known single cause for the disorders within each cluster- in fact, there’s no single cause at all. While it’s very difficult to be definitive, and there is not yet enough data to be entirely conclusive, one thing that seems clear is that every personality disorder comes from multiple factors. The factors that cause the disorder to develop are often in the ‘biological’ category or the ‘environmental’ category, and it seems that a disorder can’t develop based on one factor alone. Through this research, the takeaway I want to give is to read up on family mental health history to know what risks exist and what risks may be passed on to children so that precautions can be taken. I didn’t end up with the exact answer I was looking for, but I ended up with a practical application of knowledge that can help people be more informed about themselves- and I believe that’s more important.
