The Root Cause of Mental Illness has been confusing because there are multiple components of the causes with various correlates. To clear up this confusion, this essay explores the causes of mental illness that are primarily located within the individual, outside the individual, and is a combination of the two. It is concluded that the causes of mental illness lie mainly in a combination of internal and external causes. Mental illness is a condition that significantly hinders an individual's emotional, cognitive, or social abilities (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). According to (Savy and Sawyer, 2009) neurological, metabolic, genetic and psychological causes contribute to various types of mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse and progression of the condition. An elaborate system known as DSM-IV-TR provides a classification system that acts to separate mental illness into diagnostic categories based on the description of symptoms of the illness (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). The exact causes of mental illness are complicated, however, it appears to occur in a psychologically and biologically prone individual under environmental and social stress (Elder, Evans, & Nizette, 2007). In some cases the causes of mental illness lie primarily within the individual. Some of them have been associated with an abnormal balance of neurotransmitters in the brain. If they are out of balance, communication between nerve cells in the brain is disrupted (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of psychiatrists, 2005). Thus, leading to symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia. On the other hand, genetics also plays a significant role in the acquisition of mental disorders, which are transmitted...... middle of paper ......and in the neurodevelopmental cycle, such as increased neuronal dysfunction with decreased connectivity and increased loss of neuropril and extrinsic factors such as substance abuse, developmental stress, relationship problems (Elder, Evans, & Nizette, 2007). Overall, the cause of mental illness can be summarized as a complex combination of psychological, social, and biological responses to environmental stressors, response behavior, physiology, and connection to social context (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). Mental illness developed mainly due to the circumstances surrounding the individual and the individual's way of acting to tolerate the situation. Thus, the combination of causes external and internal to the individual causes mental illness. Individual preferences, such as drug and alcohol use, also develop and in some cases worsen mental health problems.