the evolving mind

In a post I wrote roughly two weeks ago, The Link Between Bullying and Psychosis I mentioned a new scientific finding that linked, well, you can read. I warned that because two variables are linked does not mean that one caused the other.

But does the bullying outright cause these symptoms to develop? Possibly. There is another possibility, however. Rather than bullies creating future psychotic individuals through their abusive behavior, it is possible that in choosing their targets bullies are picking up on the earliest signs of mental health problems to come. So the link is not causal but merely predictive. Being picked as the target of bullying might be little more than a sign of psychological health starting to go wrong.

Yesterday I encountered a new study that supports my reasoning.

Children with more depressed and anxious symptoms in first and second grade were more likely to be victimized by third grade.

Author of the study, Bonnie J. Leadbeater, said,

“Children’s early mental health problems can set the stage for abuse by their peers.”

So five points for me. But back to the original question. Does bullying cause psychosis or predict it? My now-a-little-more-informed answer, “Outright cause, no; contribute to, yes.”

Technorati Links: critical thinking, mental health, mental illness

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