Hello my audience. My special guest speaker Vik Moore and I are covering the depths of Mental Illness. Central to the field of abnormal psychology are questions about what causes people to experience mental distress and/or to behave maladaptively. If we knew the causes for given disorders, we might be able to prevent conditions that lead to them and perhaps reverse those that maintain them. We could also classify and diagnose disorders better if we clearly understood their causes rather than relying on clusters of symptoms, as we usually do now. Although understanding the causes of abnormal behavior is clearly a desirable goal, it is enormously difficult to achieve because human behavior is so complex. Even the simplest human behavior, such as speaking or writing a single word, is the product of thousands of prior events—the connections among which are not always clear. Attempting to understand a person’s life in causal terms is a task of enormous magnitude, whether it be a fairly normal or adaptive life or a life characterized by severe mental disorders. As a result, many investigators now prefer to speak of risk factors (variables correlated with an abnormal outcome) rather than of causes. Nevertheless, understanding causes remains the ultimate goal. A child growing up under conditions of adversity may be protected from problems later in life if he or she has a warm and supportive relationship with some adult—such as a grandmother. Encouraging children to ask questions, taking the time to listen to their problems and concerns, and trying to understand the conflicts and pressures they face are the important elements of such a supportive and protective relationship. If you or a loved one suffer from mental illness, join us here Friday nite at 9pm CT at www.blogtalkradio.com/ritaodges or call in live at 646-929-0421. Audience participation encouraged!!