Genes as a Source of Risk for Mental Disorders

This chapter explores the current understanding of how genetic factors contribute to human mental health in general, and in particular how they lead to disturbances that can affect public mental health in significant ways. It begins with an explanation of some basic genetic concepts crucial to understanding how genetic factors can influence human mental health. It then describes the leading research paradigm used to investigate the role of genetic factors and highlights a number of discoveries made in implementing this paradigm. The chapter closes with a discussion of the challenges that remain for the better understanding how genetic factors contribute to mental health and why ongoing research in this area is crucial.