Question by HREPrincess: Does “abuse” by another cause a person to have a psychiatric disorder? What is the diagnosis in this case?
I’m writing about an individual who was oppressed, abused, ridiculed, and neglected during childhood to the point of not talking and hiding (even as a child of 2 or 3 hid in a closet to avoid the mother). This continued to some extent into teenage years. Many mistakes were made and opportunities lost even as an adult. The person is now able to join in conversations without the “tremendous” fear that was present in past years, joins in group activities, etc., but is still somewhat socially withdrawn. This person was “damaged” by another, but is this a psychiatric disorder? The person is very intelligent (IQ 150+) and has no problem conversing about common interests. One otherwise would not be aware of the problem just to observe from a distance. This is definitely not Asperger’s. What is the diagnosis?

Best answer:

Answer by bmac
The person does not have a mental illness based on what you’ve said. Many people have been through that as children and have problems even after becoming adults. It does require counseling/therapy, though. No pill is going to help that.

Answer by stormwarnfm
Sounds to me like overcoming life experiences.

Psychiatric disorders are genetic, not caused, UNLESS it’s PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

That’s about the only psychiatric disorder I know of that causes issues in an individual from their life rather than genetically, other than the obvious, like FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) and pre-natal drug exposure leading to ADHD.

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