What Causes Mental Illness?

This is a mindful exploration that I have wanted to begin for awhile now. Not to say that I haven't been exploring already, I have, but this is the transition from non-physical thoughts to physical documentation. I want for my writing to contain some structure to it. It probably won't, but at the very least you'll be able to sense that I tried, insofar as my will may succeed.

The topic that I will be looking at today is mental illness. I think about mental illness every day, so it's an idea that holds space in my mind. For the sake of background information, I was prescribed SSRIs around a year and a half ago for moderate anxiety and depression. For those who might be curious, I took the drug for a very short period of time and no longer take it. Ever since this moment occurred in my existence, I've developed a deep fascination toward this subject.

Some thoughts on the matter shall be written out below. I know that this is a sensitive subject, so I hope that this writing will find the reader well. I do not intend for this writing to be condescending toward those who may disagree - it's simply a personal belief after all, which could very well be inaccurate. I do not claim certainty on a lot of the thoughts that will be shared. This is not intended to be academic, as this entry adheres to the non-formal creative writing format.

I suppose the most basic question to ask would be: what is a mental illness? "A mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning."

Two words in that definition catch my attention: illness and medical. You might be thinking to yourself "Well, that's strange. Why would these words catch your attention? Especially illness, as it's right in the term 'mental illness.'" I find that both words catch my attention because words such as illness and medical usually refer to physical body concerns.

This brings me to a question: are all mental properties physical? And from here I have even more questions to address. Do people have both a physical brain and a non-physical mind? Do people only have a physical brain? With the assumption that the physical brain is the totality of mental properties, it would be easy to say that all mental properties are physical.

Many would infer that a mental illness is purely a physical problem. People with said belief might say that a mental illness is nothing more than a chemical imbalance inside of the physical brain.

However, as someone who believes in the reality of spiritual things, I think that this is one of the greatest faults of secular psychology - this idea that all mental properties are physical. I should also say that I am especially concerned as a Christian. I don't intend to delve too deeply into Biblical theology here, but with my conviction that The Bible is the Word of God, I certainly hold a conviction that immaterial parts such as the mind, the heart, and the soul are intrinsic to human beings because the Bible talks about the actuality of these things. Is it possible that the non-physical mind, heart, and soul could have some cause in the case of mental illness?

Make no mistake, I am not trying to say that all mental illnesses go beyond chemical imbalances. Perhaps a chemical imbalance really is the root of mental illness in some circumstances. But nevertheless, I am still left with many doubts and questions. What is the basis for determining a chemical imbalance? Is that basis trustworthy? Why is it assumed that just because particular chemistry can be observed inside of the physical brain, that that particular chemistry is the very origin of the mental illness itself? Is there something that causes neurotransmitter imbalances?

So what's the conclusion of the matter? I believe that the physical brain is perhaps connected with the non-physical mind, heart, and soul. And with that belief I think it's vital to be careful with how mental illness is responded to. All said and done, I'm unable to provide an actual conclusion though.

Entry #176

"We are 'taken out of ourselves' by the loved one while she is here. Then comes the tragic figure of the dance in which we must learn to be still taken out of ourselves though the bodily presence is withdrawn, to love the very Her, and not fall back to loving our past, or our memory, or our sorrow, or our relief from sorrow, or our own love." 
- C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed



"The belief that rational and quantifiable disciplines such as science can be used to perfect human society is no less absurd than a belief in magic, angels, and divine intervention."
- Chris Hedges, I Don't Believe in Atheists



"A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer



‎"If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. There is no God, and there is no immortality. And what is the consequence of this? It means that life itself is absurd. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose."
- William Lane Craig



"All the idols made by man, however terrifying they may be, are in point of fact subordinate to him, and that is why he will always have it in his power to destroy them."
- Simone de Beauvoir



"I am no longer sure of anything. If I satiate my desires, I sin but I deliver myself from them; if I refuse to satisfy them, they infect the whole soul."
- Jean-Paul Sartre, The Devil and the Good Lord



"As I walk past a smile I cast, fervor in my stead. But my bones like plastic, do buckle backward now. I lay in this field by Judas and anticipate the plow. I cannot be forgiven, my wages will be paid. For those more lovely and admirable is least among the saved."
- Josh Dies of Showbread, Matthias Replaces Judas



"I'm fighting the war rather than war itself. I'm caught in the midst of no redemption. I'm fighting the war rather than war itself. Some say there's hope in this, there is love. Show me her eyes, I'll feel her hair.
I'll be back to déjà vu. Over and over. The same dream. The same question. Will I ever forgive myself?"
- Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada, War



"Having a tree growing up out of me / Is often a worrisome thing. / I'm twisty and thorny and branchy and bare / But wait till you see me in Spring."
- Shel Silverstein, Headache



"Bring your secrets to me. Just give me your hands and I'll let you feel the wounds they put in me. If you believe in me how can I be dissolving? If you'd believe me, I'd tell you everything."
- Davey Havok of AFI, 37mm

The Ontological Argument

This is Alvin Plantinga's version of the ontological argument - in a restated format.

I discovered it through the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-bTsMZQFQ&list=PL48F0C019551ADD08

1. It is possible that a maximally great being exists.

2. If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world.

3. If a maximally great being exists in some possible world, then it exists in every possible world.

4. If a maximally great being exists in every possible world, then it exists in the actual world.

5. If a maximally great being exists in the actual world, then a maximally great being exists.

6. Therefore, a maximally great being exists.