Dr. Lancaster is meeting with a new patient who is complaining of symptoms consistent with depression. Dr. Lancaster has learned that the patient recently lost her job, which is causing financial issues. The patient has also revealed that she has been drinking large amounts of alcohol to try to cope with these stressors. In thinking about factors that affect mental health, what else might Dr. Lancaster want to know?
Explanation
Answer: B - In thinking about factors that affect mental health, Dr. Lancaster might also want to know the patient’s family history of mental illness and substance abuse.
The old nature vs. nurture debate is almost irrelevant in modern psychology because we now know that it is a combination of factors that contribute to mental illness. Dr. Lancaster had an idea of the environmental factors (i.e., job loss and financial strain) and the biological factors (i.e., drinking alcohol) that could be contributing to the patient’s symptoms of depression. However, what she still needed to know were the genetic influences (e.g., family history of mental illness) that may be affecting the patient’s mental health as well.
