Answer:
Genetics. Mental illness often runs in the family.
Environment. Living in a stressful environment can make you more likely to develop a mental illness. Things like living in poverty or having an abusive family put a lot of stress on your brain and often trigger mental illness.
Childhood trauma. Even if you’re no longer in a stressful environment, things that happened to you as a child can have an impact later in life.
Stressful events: like losing a loved one, or being in a car accident.
Negative thoughts. Constantly putting yourself down or expecting the worst can get you stuck in a cycle of depression or anxiety.
Unhealthy habits: like not getting enough sleep, or not eating.
Drugs and alcohol: Abusing drugs and alcohol can trigger a mental illness. It can also make it harder to recover from mental illness.
Brain chemistry. Mental illness involves an imbalance of natural chemicals in your brain and your body.
