Why psychiatric problems should not be treated as a genetic illness

I WISH to congratulate Tony Humphreys for having the courage to say it like it is in his excellent article on schizophrenia (Feelgood, Irish Examiner, August 4).

At last the myth that psychiatric illness is a genetic disease has been challenged in our national press.

While I agree that all human beings are genetically predisposed to the possibility of experiencing serious emotional distress which, in a pathological sense, involves heightened interaction and levels of naturally occurring biochemistry, this in no way translates as ‘illness’ is the medical sense of the word.