Causal relationship between poverty and mental illness discovered

The poverty and the mental diseases Not only are they related, but there is also a causal relationship, according to a study by researchers at the Medical University of Amsterdam, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Modena, which shows that while certain mental health problems can hinder financial stability, poverty is also one of the causal factors that lead to mental health problems. mental health.

“This study indicates that certain mental health problems can make a person’s financial situation uncertain. But, conversely, we also see that poverty can lead to mental health problems.”says Amsterdam UMC psychiatrist Marco Boks.

Previous studies have shown a strong correlation between poverty and mental illness, but it is difficult to tease out the cause-and-effect relationship. The consequences of mental illness can affect a person’s financial situation, for example, if they are unable to work well or have higher health care costs. But difficult financial circumstances can also cause psychological problems.

Researchers at the studypublished in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, used data from the UK Biobank and the International Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. “We found that schizophrenia and ADHD causally contribute to poverty. Conversely, poverty contributes to major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. The risk of anorexia nervosa is actually reduced when there is poverty,” says Boks.

First, a measure of poverty was determined based on household income, employment income and social deprivation. The researchers then used the participants’ genetic information using a special technique called Mendelian randomization to tease out the relationship. Mendelian randomization is a method of determining the influence of risk factors on a disease by measuring the variation in genes that are more common for certain traits.

“We were able to capture aspects of poverty that are shared by the individual, the household and the area in which they live. This allowed us to better identify the causal effects of poverty on mental illness,” says David Hill, a statistical geneticist at the University of Edinburgh.

The results of this research are important for policy formulation and the approach to poverty and mental illness. By recognizing the reciprocal influence between poverty and mental health, policy makers can develop more effective interventions aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty and mental health problems.

“The research provides strong evidence for the need to also examine social factors such as poverty when looking further into the development of mental illness,” Boks said. “The research provides strong evidence for the need to also examine social factors such as poverty when looking further into the development of mental illness,” Boks said.

“Our findings suggest that reducing inequalities could lead to substantial gains in public mental health. There is often confusion about using genetic data to investigate the relationship between poverty and mental illness. We stress that this does not mean that poverty is genetic. On the contrary, with genetic data, we were able to identify poverty as a modifiable environmental factor for mental health,” adds psychiatrist at the University of Modena, Mattia Marchi.

Source: EUROPA PRESS