Is Mentall Illness the Result of Nature or Nurture?

Is mental illness the result of nature or nurture?

Mental illness has been looked at in four different fields and approaches: Biological, Behavioural, Cognitive and Psychodynamic. Each of these different approaches have their own assumptions about how mental illnesses are formed or caused. Firstly the Biological approach assumes that all behaviour is caused by a person’s biology for example; the brain, neurotransmitters, physical health and infections/viruses. Secondly the Behavioural approach assumes that all behaviour no matter what is learnt in three ways; classical, operant and the social learning theory. Thirdly the Cognitive approach assumes that the brain is like a computer and that the inputs trigger effects the output, it depends on how the individual thinks about the world. Finally the Psychodynamic approach assumes that all behaviour is the result of unconscious conflict and childhood.

I believe that mental illness is the result of nurture; that it is caused by the way an individual is taught and learns to behave also by the way an individual thinks. Behavioural Psychology assumes that all behaviour no matter what is learnt by classical and/or operant conditioning also by the social learning theory. I believe that the behaviour a person learns is influenced by parents, friends and people in society and therefore can cause a mental illness to arise. Classical conditioning shows how somebody with Anorexia can learn through association; when they start eating and lose weight they receive compliments so they carry on not eating but do not receive compliments and therefore associate this with being fat. This supports how mental illnesses are a result of nurture. Operant conditioning also shows how somebody learns through reinforcement; if they do something good they are rewarded and learn that this is positive and therefore learn to do this more often whereas if they do something wrong they receive a punishment and relate this to being negative and not to...