One thing that the media likes to do is to stereotype. According to the Robert Wood Foundation, the primary way Americans gain information about mental illnesses is through mass media, more specifically, television and news. Many forms of media, including films, television programs, books, et cetera, seem to stereotype people with mental illnesses quite a bit. People with mental illnesses are often depicted as violent, dangerous, and dubious---contrary to how most mentally ill people act. When the general public is exposed to this harmful media, they eventually adopt it as the truth---causing even more stereotypes to arise as well as discriminatory behaviour. Recently, there have been changes to how it is depicted, making it more accurate. However, this project is here to explain the depths that there is to mental illness. 

In this project, we are analyzing possible ways of "fixing" mental illness. Elaborating further, we will use examples of ways to "cure" mental illness and explain why that might not help/not even do anything at all. We are showing this because it's the tip of the iceberg when exploring the depth and complexity there is to it. After that, we will discuss why mental illness is important and why media perception/involvement matters in the grand scheme of things.

Well, saying that it is nearly impossible is a statement we stay true to. But to prove that we're correct, let us name some examples where we could potentially "cure" mental illness. Another note I must make is that when regarding mental illnesses, we're talking about the life-threatening ones that will never go away. We feel that it is an important distinction to make since some mental illnesses can be cured. Here, we are only to educate on how it is more complex than what most people perceive it as. Anyway, we will deeply dive into each one in the order below. 

-CRISPR-CAS9 (for all the genetic mental disorders)

-Medication

After this, we'll show the media portrayal of mental illness and why that has affected the public's perception of what it is.

 

What is mental health/mental illness?

To understand what mental illness is, we must first define what mental health is. Mental health results from someone’s health condition that affects their emotional and psychological well-being. Mental illness(also known as a mental disorder or psychiatric disorder)—according to the government of Canada, “Mental illnesses are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behaviour associated with significant distress and impaired functioning.” Mental illness—as defined by the DSM-5— is “ a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or development processes underlying mental functioning.” In general, mental illness is something that may affect your beliefs, thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and behaviours. Mental illnesses can come in many forms, such as anxiety disorders,  post-traumatic stress disorder (more commonly regarded as PTSD), schizophrenia, eating disorders, mood disorders (including bipolar disorder and depression), personality disorders, substance dependence disorders, et cetera, you get the gist.

 

1. CRISPR-CAS9 (for the genetic mental illnesses)

 

What is DNA? What is a gene?:

Deoxyribonucleic acid, abbreviated as DNA, is “ the carrier of genetic information.” This ‘code’ can be sectioned into four chemical bases (what gives a person their traits): adenine (A), guanine(G), cytosine(C), and thymine(T). For reference, DNA usually consists of 3 billion bases. These bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form divisions named base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Eventually, the nucleotide monomers (atoms that form together to make complex shapes) make two polynucleotides that coil together to form a double helix. Our cells use the DNA code to make proteins and molecules necessary for our body. The sequences of the bases also determine the biological aspects of our bodies (our eye colour, hair colour, etc).

Now that we’ve explained DNA, what exactly is a gene? Genes are made up of DNA and are a unit of heredity transferred from your parent(s). Every person has two genes, one inherited from each parent. 

 

How they correlate:

You can already assume how these two topics correlate. When a child inherits a trait from their parents—there is a chance that the child may be inheriting the former or latter parent's mental disorder. According to Frontier Media, it was found that three main SMI’s (Severe Mental Illness)---schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression were suggested to have sources that connect it to some genetic reasons. However, not all mental illness is inherently genetic, and biological + environmental factors also play a role.

 

What is CRISPR-CAS9?:

CRISPR stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.” These repeats are small viruses found in some bacteria's DNA. The bacteria incorporate these small pieces of DNA from viruses when the viruses invade the bacteria. When infected by a virus, the bacteria capture small parts of its DNA, inserting it into their own. These are called “CRISPR Arrays” and help the bacteria remember the virus if it were to attack again. So, if the viruses attack again, the bacteria make RNA segments from the CRISPR arrays that recognize and attach to specific regions of the viruses' DNA. The bacteria then use Cas9 or a similar enzyme to cut the DNA apart, which cancels out the virus. Recently, researchers utilized this system to edit DNA. They create short RNA sequences that guide the system to matching sequences of DNA (which also applies to the Cas9 enzyme). When introduced into cells, the “guide” RNA identifies the intended DNA sequence, and the Cas9 enzyme cuts the DNA at the targeted location and shuts the targeted DNA off. Once the DNA is cut, researchers use the cell's DNA repair machinery to add or delete pieces of genetic material or change the DNA by replacing an existing segment with a customized DNA sequence.

 

How it is NOT possible:

For one—it is 100% certain that CRISPR-Cas9 can cure genetic diseases. In July 2019, it helped treat a patient with sickle cell disease. One little fact about SCD (sickle cell disease) is that it is present at birth and is genetically inherited. However, sickle cell disease is easy to track down in your DNA system because of the research that has been previously conducted. On the other hand, there are no gene variants that can determine mental illness, and scientists can't pinpoint anything. This is why it's much more complex in terms of "genetically modifying mental illness" because we have no certainty of where it could be, or where to utilize CRISPR-CAS9. Furthermore, even genetic mental illnesses might not be locatable, therefore making it impossible.

 

Now to move on to how medication can't exactly cure mental illness.

 

2. MENTAL ILLNESS

 

Medications can help manage many symptoms of mental illness, but they cannot cure the underlying condition. For example, medications can help manage thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms so that the patient can benefit from other kinds of support. However, medications cannot remove an outside source of stress that contributes to the patient’s problems. Research has provided many new insights into the effects of different psychotropic agents on the functions of various brain systems. However, these treatments have had less effect on altering the course of these disorders. It is our position that, given the present limitations of our therapeutic arsenal, both researchers and clinicians would be well-advised to pay closer attention to human-specific factors such as the role of language, the creation of personal narratives, and how factors such as these interface with underlying biological diathesis in mental illness. These interactions between pathophysiology and intrapersonal processes may be critical to both the in vivo expression of the underlying biological mechanisms of psychiatric disease states and the development of enhancements in therapeutic efficacy. To summarize, while medications can help manage symptoms of mental illness, they cannot cure the underlying condition. Researchers and clinicians are exploring new ways to improve the treatment of psychiatric disorders by paying closer attention to human-specific factors

 

 

-DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

-https://cmha.ca/

-https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/mental-illness.html&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401754396&usg=AOvVaw2e1ou5ukpHrDL5EFTNx0Eb

-https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/mental-illness.html&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401754769&usg=AOvVaw03iLvLZ1ANv_tY5V44ZM5h

-https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Deoxyribonucleic-Acid-Fact-Sheet%23:~:text%3DDNA%2520contains%2520the%2520instructions%2520needed,the%2520work%2520in%2520our%2520bodies&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401755653&usg=AOvVaw2j2GiaHJBBl7XJCIIrTXoe

-https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00048/full&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401755947&usg=AOvVaw0uMhOWawyrEJBw4rh5ddKY

-https://www.google.com/url?q=https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/genomicresearch/genomeediting/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401760829&usg=AOvVaw1SN-i86VtlrhfJ4JRRl27G

-https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/questions-and-answers-about-crispr&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1707600401745941&usg=AOvVaw1ayc3dsngRdheWA6lFbJol

-https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/30/3/543/1933069?login=false

 

We want to acknowledge our friends and family who have supported us endlessly during this journey. We would also like to thank Mr. Hagen for allowing us to have an opportunity to present at the CYSF.