For quite some time, therapists knew some of these illnesses had a familial genetic link.
We saw it all the time.

...these researchers are figuring out the mechanism by which all these different disorders can show up in varying combinations in members of the same family. That is something new.

For example, my family tree includes a woman with schizoaffective disorder (schizophrenia combined with a mood disorder) who has a daughter with bipolar disorder and another one with major depressive disorder, but neither daughter is schizophrenic. That never made sense to me until now.

So to make a solid dx we looked at the family history.

Also the mood disorders ran in families as well.
And it looked like the eating disorders were linked to mood disorders.

We did not have genetic proof of it, but we knew it from our work with
these high risk families.

Major depressive disorder is one of the linked disorders. I always thought that it was different from other issues but I was so wrong.

If your ADHD is bad enough, it moves into the autism spectrum disorder. ( One son and I have this)

If your OCD focuses on body image, then anorexia is next on the symptomatology.

But the diseases not related to each other. This seems like a good first step attacking the nature side of a bunch of illnesses that have both a nature and nurture aspect.

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting, ShazzieB.

Nobody considers measuring the water temperature increases.

Suck it up! Man up! Don't be a weakling! The beatings will continue until morale improves!

I have always had anxiety ( I did not know it). Then people at work when I was about 64 or so kind of suggested I might have Aspergers. When, do to my aspie researching, I discovered anxiety. I did not know what it was until then. I think discovered the med a doc gave me for my muscle cramps (Valium) was for anxiety, I was in heaven. I would take one a day before dentist appointment and enough was in my system that I no longer had panic attacks.

Research and science is so wonderful.

This study is a great step forward in treating, and maybe preventing, many disorders, including autism. However, saying autism is a psychiatric disorder is wrong and promotes the idea that people with autism are "crazy:. While people with autism may have a co-occurring mental illness, someone with autism is neurodivergent, not mentally ill. I spent the last 11 years of my career directing a program for young adults with autism and a mental health disorder. Those two conditions are separate. My 28 year old son with autism also has an anxiety disorder, as did most of the young people we served, mostly brought about by having to deal with a society that stigmatizes anything that isn't "normal".

as anything but a brain disorder. It appears that if the article is correct, autism is just a different variation of a genetic predisposition to many other conditions.

Is ignorant and a travesty.

That one can't mention the words "mental" illness without many people cringing or becoming argumentative signals what a huge problem shame associated with perception can be.

We could all benefit from being a little more sensitive about the words we use to describe human conditions that are no fault of the person that they are ascribed to.

We could all also benefit from not being quite so free with our knee jerk reactions that usually reveal not only a lack of compassion but the need for better informed decision making.

If you see autism as an inherently useful trait to have in the small communities in which we used to live, that would explain why these clusters have persisted. The genetic traits that confer benefits to the individual are passed along to descendants, and the associated variations just go along for the ride.

For instance, one allele for sickle cell anemia provides protection against malaria; two alleles make you very sick, but only 1 in 4 people get both alleles, so 3 people survive malaria for every 1 person who dies from the condition.

I have had theory for a while…

The human brain and mind have not evolved/developed at the same speed (perhaps they cannot) as our technology. The result is a human society particularly in this country that is toxic to mental health. The genetics which the OP discusses impacts this in that the methods of pairing off in this toxic environment strengthen the potential for shifts in the brain towards the psychiatric conditions. To lessen the impact of the toxic environment I think is important is helping mitigate the conditions.

Much appreciated.