Understanding psychotic breaks

[Syne]

Then you can't manage to read simple English. "mental health issues can actually be contagious in the workplace" literally means mental illness can be contagious.

Wrong. Mental health issues can be contagious does not mean mental illness can be contagious. Mental health issues have to do with moods, social relationships, beliefs and values, personal habits and behaviors, etc. You don't have to be mentally ill to have these. Everybody has them. And they can influence others. Has nothing whatsoever to do with mental illness.

Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-cond...c-20374968

That article went on to specify:

They found that when a team had a high rate of mental disorders, and someone new came on board, that person was at high risk for those disorders, too.
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/10/12/study-me...workplace/

If you weren't trying to weasel out of the obvious with your mental gymnastics, you'd know that you're full of shit. But go on. Keep defending your own mental illness. Those voices in your head apparently need someone to advocate for them...or else (save for medication).

...If it is something that’s going on with the job, it is very possible that it’s not only them that’s experiencing this, and there might be other employees as well that are experiencing the same thing, and there could be some structural things that just need adjusting to help that individual and help the entire team.

Guess what, coworkers and their attitudes are a part of any work environment, meaning they contribute to any contagion of mental illness. If it were just the job, where's the study on isolated employees being similarly affected?

[confused2]

Guess what, coworkers and their attitudes are a part of any work environment, meaning they contribute to any contagion of mental illness. If it were just the job, where's the study on isolated employees being similarly affected?

There's a problem with finding out how people are influenced by people they are isolated from (not influenced by) .. farmers might be a fair choice of an isolated group..

Farmers' suicides in the United States refers to the national occurrences of farmers taking their own lives, largely since the 1980s, partly due to their falling into debt. In the Midwest alone, over 1,500 farmers have taken their own lives since the 1980s. It mirrors a crisis happening globally: in Australia, a farmer dies by suicide every four days; in the United Kingdom, one farmer a week takes their own life; and in France it is one every two days. In India more than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995.[1][2]

Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations, according to a study published in January 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[3] Researchers at the University of Iowa found that farmers, and others in the agricultural trade, had the highest suicide rate of all occupations from 1992 to 2010, the years they studied in 2017.[3] The rate was 3.5 times that of the general population.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27...ted_States

[Syne]

There's a problem with finding out how people are influenced by people they are isolated from (not influenced by) .. farmers might be a fair choice of an isolated group..

Farmers' suicides in the United States refers to the national occurrences of farmers taking their own lives, largely since the 1980s, partly due to their falling into debt. In the Midwest alone, over 1,500 farmers have taken their own lives since the 1980s. It mirrors a crisis happening globally: in Australia, a farmer dies by suicide every four days; in the United Kingdom, one farmer a week takes their own life; and in France it is one every two days. In India more than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995.[1][2]

Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations, according to a study published in January 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[3] Researchers at the University of Iowa found that farmers, and others in the agricultural trade, had the highest suicide rate of all occupations from 1992 to 2010, the years they studied in 2017.[3] The rate was 3.5 times that of the general population.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27...ted_States

It doesn't follow that it is endemic to the job. If such work is a primary factor, why the huge discrepancy between countries?
All of the possible causes listed on that wiki page are factors outside of working conditions of the job itself.

[Magical Realist]

They found that when a team had a high rate of mental disorders, and someone new came on board, that person was at high risk for those disorders, too.
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/10/12/study-me...workplace/

So, if you’re interacting with someone that’s you know very positive and encouraging, then that can rub off on you. If you’re interacting with someone and they seem depressed, anxious, especially again if it’s in the supervisory type role, then you might be interpreting that as maybe that means something. Maybe I’m not doing something right or they’re not communicating with me as much as they had been before this.

Does that mean that I’m doing something wrong? I must be doing something wrong. And so it kind of snowballs, so not having those other modalities to communicate, and, you know, express yourself, can really play a big role in this and really cause it to kind of feel contagious.

It's one thing to have a depressive or an anxiety disorder, and it's another thing just to experience the mood of depression and anxiety. Just because one's depressed or anxious mood can influence others to feel the same way doesn't mean there is a mental illness that is contagious. We can experience such emotions often without having the disorder. And no doubt good moods like enthusiasm and laughter can be just as infectious as negative emotions. There is simply no evidence of mental illness being caused by contagion. This goes against years of research showing mental illness being rooted in brain dysfunction and genetic factors.

[Secular Sanity]

It's one thing to have a depressive or an anxiety disorder, and it's another thing just to experience the mood of depression and anxiety. Just because one's depressed or anxious mood can influence others to feel the same way doesn't mean there is a mental illness that is contagious. We can experience such emotions often without having the disorder. And no doubt good moods like enthusiasm and laughter can be just as infectious as negative emotions. There is simply no evidence of mental illness being caused by contagion. This goes against years of research showing mental illness being rooted in brain dysfunction and genetic factors.

I agree.

[Syne]

It's one thing to have a depressive or an anxiety disorder, and it's another thing just to experience the mood of depression and anxiety. Just because one's depressed or anxious mood can influence others to feel the same way doesn't mean there is a mental illness that is contagious. We can experience such emotions often without having the disorder. And no doubt good moods like enthusiasm and laughter can be just as infectious as negative emotions. There is simply no evidence of mental illness being caused by contagion. This goes against years of research showing mental illness being rooted in brain dysfunction and genetic factors.

More details on the study:

Can people spread mental-health problems from one company to another like an infectious disease?

Recent research suggests it is possible. New hires diagnosed with anxiety, depression or high levels of stress are likely to transmit these feelings to their new co-workers, according to a study published online in May in the Administrative Science Quarterly.

Specifically, the paper finds that hiring a professional who was previously diagnosed with at least one of these ailments increases the incidence rate—the number of co-workers at the new organization who develop similar diagnoses—by about 6.32%.
...
The authors studied about 250,000 employees at 17,000 Danish firms between 1996 and 2015. They used labor statistics to track individuals’ employment histories, and to control for variables like occupation or firm size. They then compared that employment data with records from Denmark’s healthcare system to identify workers with anxiety, depression or stress-related diagnoses. All data was anonymized.

A new hire’s mental health was the most significant variable when it came to transmitting mental-health maladies between firms. But the authors identified other salient factors—notably, the situation at a new hire’s previous workplace.

The authors theorize when a previous workplace had a high incidence rate of depression, anxiety and stress, an employee who left for a new job often transmitted negative feelings to their new workplace. The effect was most pronounced when employees in that situation had a mental-health diagnosis of their own: The incidence rate at their new firm increased by 7.38%.

Troubled organizations even had a lasting effect on workers with no diagnosis of mental-health problems: When those types of workers left such a firm, the incidence rate at their new organization still rose—about 2.47% over three years.
https://www.livemint.com/science/health/...67917.html

Again, they are talking about diagnosed "disorders," not just a transient mood. They are also talking about the increase in such diagnoses when such employees move to a new job. The fact that it transfers from one job to another means it's a persistent condition. So unless you're claiming Danish mental health professionals are all quacks, you need to make up some other mental gymnastics. Again, I've repeated said "exacerbated," not caused. That's another example of your illiteracy or straw men. And again, "chemical imbalances" are ad-speak, not science. And contagion within families explains the appearance of genetic causes while accounting for the lack of evidence for deterministically genetic causes.

I agree.

Hope MR gives you cookie.

[Magical Realist]

New hires diagnosed with anxiety, depression or high levels of stress are likely to transmit these feelings to their new co-workers,

No mention of disorders here. Just feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, much of which was observed being caused by their previous work place. Again, there's no basis for thinking mental illness is contagious. Try reading up on some actual science instead of cherry-picking obscure studies to support your environmentally-caused hypothesis.

[Syne]

New hires diagnosed with anxiety, depression or high levels of stress are likely to transmit these feelings to their new co-workers,

No mention of disorders here. Just feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, much of which was observed being caused by their previous work place. Again, there's no basis for thinking mental illness is contagious. Try reading up on some actual science instead of cherry-picking obscure studies to support your environmentally-caused hypothesis.

Try reading the whole article. It's in there. You know, aside from the fact that mental health professionals do not "diagnosis" something that isn't a disorder. "Diagnosing" your moronic "just feelings" would make them quacks. Again, "just feelings" aren't significant enough to diagnose, let alone persist (chronic) to a new job enough to have a measurable affect on others.

You going to deny the Mayo Clinic too?

Causes
Mental illnesses, in general, are thought to be caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors:

Inherited traits. Mental illness is more common in people whose blood relatives also have a mental illness. Certain genes may increase your risk of developing a mental illness, and your life situation may trigger it.
Environmental exposures before birth. Exposure to environmental stressors, inflammatory conditions, toxins, alcohol or drugs while in the womb can sometimes be linked to mental illness.
Brain chemistry. Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring brain chemicals that carry signals to other parts of your brain and body. When the neural networks involving these chemicals are impaired, the function of nerve receptors and nerve systems change, leading to depression and other emotional disorders.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-cond...c-20374968

Every professional agrees that environment can be a cause, whether as a trigger or a stressor. Quit denying the science, and quit pretending you know anything about psychology.

[confused2]

Other works involving Lars Alkærsig include:
"There is growing evidence that human biology and behavior are influenced by infectious microorganisms. One such microorganism is the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (TG). Using longitudinal data covering the female population of Denmark, we extend research on the relationship between TG infection and entrepreneurial activity and outcomes. Results indicate that TG infection is associated with a subsequent increase in the probability of becoming an entrepreneur, and is linked to other outcomes including venture performance. With parasite behavioral manipulation antithetical to rational judgment, we join a growing conversation on biology and alternative drivers of business venturing."
https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/not...associated-
I am open to the possibility that Lars Alkærsig is a loon.

[Syne]

There is spurious correlation, but there's also some fact behind the notion that infections can altar behavior, like syphilis damaging the brain.

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/vi...athologies
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shot...n-children
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsy...le/2716981
https://www.nature.com/articles/mp20085
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/4/1/98-0118_article

While the notion of positive behavioral changes due to an infection is a stretch, the general idea of infection causing mental illness is not fringe.