Is it possible for a "mental illness" to be "contagious"?

Can a mental illness be contagious?

Yes it's rare, but worrisome I feel for you & those around you. This is why they lock up the crazies.	17.4%	[ 12 ]
No, you're just screwed up from love hormones & mental abuse from your mom who was probably a ticking time-bomb	72.5%	[ 50 ]
I don't know, but your all crazy & I don't wanna be around any of you!	10.1%	[ 7 ]
Total Votes:			[ 69 ]

[icicle weapon]

I didn't even vote, because it's not even rare.
Of course it's contagious, because it's all in your head.
Sort of like how you all have to go get the latest iPhone because everyone else has it.

[Rennie`]

I believe a part of my mental illness was developed as a result of having an anxious mother and thus picking it up from her.

I did wonder this, though. I was having panic attacks at school (daily at one stage) and once I began to recover I noticed a few friends began having panic attacks (nowhere near to the degree of mine). I wasn't sure if they watched me have an attack and their subconscious learnt it - thus giving them a panic attack during a time of stress, or if it was because I was having them.

Conditions like bipolar, scizophrenia and BPP cannot be caught, they're caused by genetics, drugs or born with. I do believe depression and anxiety can be picked up from others, to some degree.

[Its-beezy]

Like a virus? No not at all.

But contagious by a domino effect, maybe.

Father had PTSD and created a traumatic event for his son, giving him PTSD, for example.

Some disorders can be hereditary also.

[AWL EYES ON ME]

i think it kinda is
i spend a lot of time at home with my housemates in supported housing we all have porblems and theres definately a different atmosphere than when im out and about and at friends houses my symtoms got a lot worse since ive been living here ill hear them talking downstairs sometimes and my anxiety will play up really bad and ill kinda black out it feels like were on the same wavelength and when i go out for walks with them if we have a chat about something weve talked about before ill get a tingling sensation in my crown
nobody i grew up with had any problems except when i was visiting my auntie in texas when i was like 14 she made me go to this house of a schizophrenic lady to clean up her place coz she was a christ f** (my auntie) and to help a member of the church she just stayed in her room brushing her hair and sudden went running out the house and it makes me think she was haunted by a demon coz she was proper weird and that it followde me but idk if demons can follow u on plannes
and my problems only started to show up after i finish grieving when my mum passed on cos i was on citalopram and it made me really high one day and i ended up throwing piss at someone thinking it would cleanse them lol cause i was really skitz and thought someone was possessed they came out with a kinda poem riddle out of nowhere about the devil and i got put in a police cell for the night the police was all laughing while i was talking to some spirit in my cell i think it was my mom

[Moronical]

Well, not like an actual virus but other people do influence us a lot.
Let's say a "normal" girl befriends two other girls who both turn out to have social phobia. They hardly ever talk to others in the class and don't do public presentations etc. They always get special treatment for their disorder and start to encourage the girl to not do public presentations when she says that she is very nervous about talking in public. It is very likely that the girl develops social phobia herself after a while since her friends never encourage her to be social and always encourage her to opt out on social activities.

[Ask Jappleack]

MistressOfTheShadows

You will probably dismiss me as too crazy to believe for even asking this... but is it possible for there to be an infectious disease that attacks the "mind" & spreads from person to person like a virus?

I ask this because my fiance whom I met a year ago is very emotionally/mentally unstable & has multiple personality disorder, ADHD, OCD, and psychotic tendencies that began when his father cheated on his mother and abandoned his family.

Just a few short months after meeting him, my mother who had showed no previous signs of mental illness went from being a kind sweet-natured person who liked him, to developing a multiple personality disorder of her own that causes her to switch back & forth from kindhearted, trusting & understanding to mean-spirited, selfish & paranoid with no memory of her words & actions from 1 side to the other.

Since then I've been noticing changes in own mind.. I'm becoming increasingly unstable mentally & emotionally, I'm starting to have more scattered & fragmented thoughts, increased trouble focusing, concentrating, and organizing my thoughts, (this isn't exactly easy for my to type as a result & is taking me a while) my short term memory isn't as what it used to be, & I've developed tendencies to act out violently in fits of rage when angry that can only be calmed by fantasizing about doing violent things I know I can't physically allow myself do to the person that angers me or imagining myself chained up inside my own head.

My fiance's issues shouldn't have effected my mom like they did because he acted normal round her to keep them hidden & only I saw them, but at some point unprovoked (for no reason at all) she just randomly snapped blaming my neglect of her & my dad to spend more time with my fiance on the day of my graduation for the cause of her suddenly becoming mean to him at 1st & then to me.

I started out a little bit ADHD & OCD, but not as bad as I am now & much more controlled & non-violent & my issues began when I started getting defensive of my fiance & she began to turn on me for sticking up on him... my mom had just become such a relentless merciless tormentor day after day arguing about every little nit-picking thing she could rehash while on her bad-side (which she comes out of less & less and for short & veritable times) that it began to wear me down and break down my sanity making my mind weaker & more vulnerable until I began to feel my own mind start to grow corrupted like a tree being consumed by blight.

If my theory is correct I think that this is something that jumps from head to head contagiously infecting people with weakened mental/emotional health & that the reason it hasn't driven EVERYONE around my fiance including his family & the members of the church insane, but effected us is because it gets in threw emotional scars/wounds that can only stem from a great deal of pain brought on by betrayal & hate or intense emotional abuse... So that it 1st hits someone like my mom who has been threw 2 divorces and still resents her exes & tries to compare and judge other men by them, and then infects someone like me who's been weakened by having every friend or guy I dated leave me, but was resilient enough to forgive them... once it is able to break down my resistance far enough by torturing me using it's host as a means to create enough weakness.

What do you think thoughts?

Do you think such a thing is possible?

Also, do you think there's any way to cure such a thing?

My fiance believe that the "cure" for him is to get the point where he can forgive his dad & I believe that forgiveness may be the cure for my mom & I as well in a way... Mom needs to forgive and put aside everything that she falsely believes was done wrong onto her & I, while I need to get her back to normal so I can forgive her... if this doesn't happen it can be a problem because I'm starting to react to his mom as I do to mine when conflicts arise & I worry I won't be able to handle ordinary day today life & interactions with other people if my mind gets any worse... & also fear that if not contained this may infect other people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania

but why forgiveness works is because of trust issues. Lack of trust, too much trust, these things cause control issues. Which are unbeneficial socially, and subsequentally, biologically.

[shana_hamilton]

I think it has to do with each person individually but its definitely true that being around certain people isnt good for your mental health.

[The Oxford Comma]

I will change you like a remix

MistressOfTheShadows

.

First things first, sometimes someone else's experience may trigger an unconscious realization of your own trauma.

Your mother sounds more mood swing then "mental illness". But there's this beautiful thing called empathy where we feel what others feel. Some are more sensitive to this than others. Like if I'm sad my fiance knows I'm sad and will sometimes even cry. So what's probably happening is you and your mother are probably sensitive to empathic waves (or something) coming from your fiance. Feelings like his are very intense.

As for a cure. There is no cure for mental illness. There's no magic wand or anything of the sort. Yes forgiving his father would treat the side effects of some of his more intense feelings. You treat the side effects of the illness, not the illness itself. The illness is a way for his mind to cope with what happened in way that doesn't destroy his higher thinking process.

Minds are a beautiful thing. The best thing to do is to tap into your empathy and help him through his rough times. Be patient with your mother and talk to her about it. See if maybe there's something else going on in her life causing her to lash out.

Then I'll raise you like phoenix

[The Oxford Comma]

I will change you like a remix

Ah! I almost forgot. There is a mental illness called folé a deux or madness of two that is "contagious" but it is a very very very rare thing. Look it up if you are interested in that kind of thing. It's actually very intriguing.

Then I'll raise you like phoenix

[Triratna]

In my case, I'm born with it. My mother family have a long history of borderline personality disorder. 4 of my aunt, myself and two of my cousins inherited this miserable psychological condition.

There was also a book of "Legacy of Madness" by tom davis.

http://www.legacyofmadness.com/

Being aware of of our own condition really help than leaving it down unchecked.

[rumblerumble]

lol no, unless its in the drinking water O_o

mental illness is hereditary.

being around somebody cray cray won't make you cray cray unless you let their problems/behavior get to you.

[rumblerumble]

Triratna

In my case, I'm born with it. My mother family have a long history of borderline personality disorder. 4 of my aunt, myself and two of my cousins inherited this miserable psychological condition.

There was also a book of "Legacy of Madness" by tom davis.

http://www.legacyofmadness.com/

Being aware of of our own condition really help than leaving it down unchecked.

hey, new research has shown that taking fish oil everyday has been shown to help with borderline.
i s**t you not.

[Triratna]

Yes, it does. Scott emulsion are very helpful, But fresh & raw fishes are the best, Sea weed are cool too.
Also Salty food & beef should be avoided or taken less for any mental.

Being mental are not contagious but it's harmful for people around us. (...) I used to punch someone face VERY HARD for no obvious reason and that's the less thing everyone should be worried about.