Welcome
Hello, I first want to welcome all of you to this blog that is intended to explore the significance of behavioral epigenetics. We go further into understanding the importance of mental health and psychological disorders and how it is we come to express these traits throughout our lifetime due to the influence of environmental factors. I want to be able to include personal experience from fellow scientists for each of the disorders that will be covered and to get feedback from professionals in the field to express the importance of expanding our knowledge on the topic of epigenetics.
All in all, this is what inspired the name for the blog: How Nurture Shapes Nature; essentially how gene expression is influenced by experiences and environment, which ultimately results in differences in behavior, personality, and mental health. My reasoning for starting this blog is that many people with psychological and mental health issues are incredibly underrepresented in our community, yet we deal with these issues ourselves and the intensity in which it affects us varies greatly amongst individuals. I grew up with my mother working at a mental health facility and being exposed to diverse forms of mental illness and psychological/behavioral disorders. She always emphasized the importance of understanding and empathizing with the individual because our ways of handling our environment and experiences is unique, this therefore has the ability to influence the expression or repression of a particular gene that is in association to these disorders.
Everything has been justified on a genetic basis, ways in which sequences have been altered in order to influence this change that is genetically passed down from parent to offspring. But what if there are other influences? What if DNA sequence doesn't need to be altered in order for gene expression to be affected? There is a possibility that there are mechanisms targeting genes as a whole and allowing for gene expression to be inhibited or allowed. Therefore, I will be posting individual entries that focus on a specific behavioral aspect and how it is influenced epigenetically: What is the particular mechanism involved with this endpoint? What influence does it have on gene expression? I will be focusing on four specific psychological and mental health disorders: Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Drug Addiction, and Schizophrenia.
My hope is that understanding the connection between the disorders and epigenetic relationship will lead to the importance of proper treatment for mental illness where we can design treatment strategies that actually function to help the individual, rather than inhibit them. As a scientist, it is also my goal to communicate this topic effectively to all of you so that the importance of the connection being brought forward is accessible and understood by all.
I look forward to having you all on this journey with me, where we can both aim to learn more about a topic that requires greater attention. Therefore, I thank you for taking the time to expose yourself to the topic and its influence on mental wellbeing.
All in all, this is what inspired the name for the blog: How Nurture Shapes Nature; essentially how gene expression is influenced by experiences and environment, which ultimately results in differences in behavior, personality, and mental health. My reasoning for starting this blog is that many people with psychological and mental health issues are incredibly underrepresented in our community, yet we deal with these issues ourselves and the intensity in which it affects us varies greatly amongst individuals. I grew up with my mother working at a mental health facility and being exposed to diverse forms of mental illness and psychological/behavioral disorders. She always emphasized the importance of understanding and empathizing with the individual because our ways of handling our environment and experiences is unique, this therefore has the ability to influence the expression or repression of a particular gene that is in association to these disorders.
Everything has been justified on a genetic basis, ways in which sequences have been altered in order to influence this change that is genetically passed down from parent to offspring. But what if there are other influences? What if DNA sequence doesn't need to be altered in order for gene expression to be affected? There is a possibility that there are mechanisms targeting genes as a whole and allowing for gene expression to be inhibited or allowed. Therefore, I will be posting individual entries that focus on a specific behavioral aspect and how it is influenced epigenetically: What is the particular mechanism involved with this endpoint? What influence does it have on gene expression? I will be focusing on four specific psychological and mental health disorders: Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Drug Addiction, and Schizophrenia.
My hope is that understanding the connection between the disorders and epigenetic relationship will lead to the importance of proper treatment for mental illness where we can design treatment strategies that actually function to help the individual, rather than inhibit them. As a scientist, it is also my goal to communicate this topic effectively to all of you so that the importance of the connection being brought forward is accessible and understood by all.
I look forward to having you all on this journey with me, where we can both aim to learn more about a topic that requires greater attention. Therefore, I thank you for taking the time to expose yourself to the topic and its influence on mental wellbeing.
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