Are you living in poverty because of mental health problems, or is poverty causing mental health problems? It’s both

Poverty and mental illness are not only correlated, but also causal. Researchers from UMC Amsterdam, University of Edinburgh and University of Modena came to this conclusion. Their research shows that while some mental health problems can interfere with financial stability, poverty is one of the main causes of mental health problems. The study was published today Nature and human behavior.

“This study shows that some mental health problems can make a person’s financial situation uncertain. Conversely, we see that poverty can lead to mental health problems,” says Marco Box, a psychiatrist at UMC Amsterdam.

Previous studies have shown a strong link between poverty and mental illness, but disentangling the link between cause and effect has been difficult. The consequences of mental illness affect a person’s financial situation; for example, if the person is unable to work or has high medical costs. But a difficult financial situation can cause psychological problems.

A complex relationship

The researchers used data from the UK Biobank and the International Psychiatric Genomic Consortium.

“We found that both schizophrenia and ADHD lead to poverty. In contrast, poverty leads to major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. When poverty is present, the risk of anorexia actually goes down,” Box said.

First, the poverty measure was determined based on household income, occupational income, and social deprivation. The researchers then used Mendelian randomization to unravel the relationship between the participants’ genetic data. Mendelian randomization is a method for determining the influence of risk factors on disease by measuring changes in genes that are more likely to cause certain traits.

“We were able to capture aspects of poverty that are shared across individuals, households, and neighborhoods, which allowed us to better characterize the impact of poverty on mental illness,” said David Hill, a statistical geneticist at the university. of Edinburgh.

A vicious circle

The findings of this study have important implications for policies and approaches to combating poverty and mental illness. By recognizing the interconnectedness of poverty and mental health, policymakers can design more effective interventions to break the cycle of poverty and mental health problems.

“The research strongly supports the need to consider social factors such as poverty when studying the development of mental illness,” Box said.

Mattia Marchi, a psychiatrist at the University of Modena, added: “Our findings show that reducing inequality has significant benefits for society’s mental health.”

“Using genetic data to study the relationship between poverty and mental illness is often misleading. We emphasize that this does not mean that poverty is genetic. On the contrary, with genetic data we have been able to identify poverty as modifiable. environmental factors,” Box concluded.