Genetics and Dual Mental Health Diagnoses

If you have multiple psychiatric disorders, you may be genetically predisposed to several different conditions, and you can still get support at Miramont Behavioral Health Hospital in Wisconsin despite this. 

Let’s dive into genetics and the multiple psychiatric conditions they can trigger to help you understand that you’re not to blame.

 

Five Types of Disorders With Genetic Similarities

Mental health diagnoses often overlap because many of them share genetic building blocks. In one massive genetics analysis, researchers looked across 14 psychiatric disorders and found they cluster into five groups. That discovery doesn’t completely account for your diagnoses, but it may explain why your symptoms can tangle together instead of staying in neat little boxes.

Let’s take a look at each.

1. Compulsive Disorders

Compulsive disorders can pull you into rigid loops that are so exhausting you may not be able to jump out of them, even when you know they’re irrational. In the study, researchers found genetic similarities between OCD and anorexia nervosa, along with weaker genetic connections to Tourette’s disorder. That overlap may help explain why you have to deal with more than one of these patterns at once.

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD can show up as intrusive, unwanted thoughts that spike massive anxiety, plus rituals you feel like you have to do to calm the alarm in your body. Many people improve with therapy, and some people also benefit from medications or a combo of both.
• Anorexia nervosa. Anorexia can force a person to extreme dietary and caloric restriction and incite intense fear around weight gain and eating in general, obliterating both mental and physical health in serious ways. Treatment often includes psychotherapy, nutrition support, and sometimes hospitalization when health risks climb.
• Tourette’s disorder. Tourette’s disorder can manifest as either motor or vocal tics that can both improve or worsen over time (usually tics worsen when you’re stressed or tired). Having Tourette’s may make you feel anxious, socially isolated, or afraid to display symptoms, but the condition can be managed.

2. Internalizing Disorders

Internalizing disorders typically take trauma and route it inward, meaning you might look fine on the outside while you struggle immensely in a loud, exhausting inner world. These conditions can include major depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD, and research suggests they share a very noticeable portion of genetic risk. In real life, these disorders can look like low mood plus constant worry, or anxiety plus trauma symptoms that flare with stress.

The good news is that Miramont treats anxiety and any other condition that may come with it, and we can help free you from the trap your own mind might be creating.

3. Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders can start early in life and affect how you focus, communicate, socialize, and interpret the world around you. This group includes autism spectrum disorder and ADHD.

With autism, you might experience stark differences from others in how you communicate or a need to perform repetitive routines to help you regulate. ADHD can look like an inability to focus, control impulses, or remain still, so much so that your daily life may be negatively impacted. Even when these traits overlap with other conditions, you still deserve effective treatment and support.

4. Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

This cluster links schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and research suggests these diagnoses can share a substantial amount of genetic markers. Both can seriously disrupt daily life, but you can still build a stable, joyful life with the right treatment and support, and Miramont treats both disorders. Here’s what they can look like in real life.

• Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia puts what your mind creates at odds with what reality confirms, and you might deal with hallucinations or delusions. You might also notice flatter emotions, social disconnect, or cognitive slowing that makes relationships and routines harder to manage.
• Bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder can cause you to cycle between depression and manic episodes (like racing thoughts, sleeplessness, and risky, impulsive, or goal-driven energy). You might also feel a painful, depressive crash after the episode passes, potentially leading to hospitalization with us in Middleton.

5. Substance Use Disorders

SUD becomes SUD when you want to stop or cut back on substances but can’t. This genetic cluster includes opioid use disorder, cannabis use disorder, and alcohol use disorder, and researchers also include nicotine dependence in this group.

In real life, SUD can look like cravings that interrupt your day, withdrawal that creates unmanageable anxiety, irritability, or physical pain—and a tragic erosion of your relationship, career, or health. Miramont treats SUD, and our SUD services can also address co-occurring mental health symptoms, which matters because many people deal with two or more conditions at the same time. 

Now we can understand some of the genetic reasons as to why.

 

Miramont Is Here to Support You Through Dual Diagnoses

When you live with overlapping diagnoses, it’s not a you problem, but you can help be a part of the solution. Miramont Behavioral Health Hospital in Wisconsin specializes in dual diagnoses, so you can talk with a team that understands how depression can blend with anxiety, how trauma can tangle with SUD, or how mood symptoms can complicate everything else.

Reach out to our care team to begin being the person you chose to be, not the person your genetic markers may make you out to be on paper.