Spouses tend to share psychiatric disorders, massive study finds(nature.com)
nature.com
Spouses tend to share psychiatric disorders, massive study finds
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02772-8
18 comments
Well, there are lots of possibilities.
"For most disorders, the chances of partners sharing a diagnosis increased slightly with each decade, particularly for those with disorders related to substance use."
"Although the study did not investigate what causes the phenomenon, Fan says three theories could help to explain it. First, people might be attracted to those who resemble them. 'Perhaps they better understand each other due to shared suffering, so they attract each other,' he says.
Second, a shared environment could make partners more alike — a process known as convergence. And third, the societal stigma of having a psychiatric disorder narrows a person’s choice of spouse."
"For most disorders, the chances of partners sharing a diagnosis increased slightly with each decade, particularly for those with disorders related to substance use."
"Although the study did not investigate what causes the phenomenon, Fan says three theories could help to explain it. First, people might be attracted to those who resemble them. 'Perhaps they better understand each other due to shared suffering, so they attract each other,' he says.
Second, a shared environment could make partners more alike — a process known as convergence. And third, the societal stigma of having a psychiatric disorder narrows a person’s choice of spouse."
are you suggesting it's transmissible? i.e correlation implies causation?
There have been indications that a fecal transplant can treat schizophrenia. We may be heavily influenced by our intestinal flora which is in turn influenced by our diet and environment which we share with a spouse.
https://thejns.org/view/journals/j-neurosurg/113/3/article-p...
Alzheimer's isn't in the set they're looking at here, but a curious data point is that neurosurgeons die of Alzheimer's at ~2.5x the rate of the general public.
There's definitely a live hypothesis that it's caused by some type of transmissible infection.
Alzheimer's isn't in the set they're looking at here, but a curious data point is that neurosurgeons die of Alzheimer's at ~2.5x the rate of the general public.
There's definitely a live hypothesis that it's caused by some type of transmissible infection.
Ok, so are airplane accidents transmissible as well?
> Increased mortality risk for male neurosurgeons was seen from leukemia, nervous system disease (particularly Alzheimer disease), and aircraft accidents
Feels like cherry-picking
> Increased mortality risk for male neurosurgeons was seen from leukemia, nervous system disease (particularly Alzheimer disease), and aircraft accidents
Feels like cherry-picking
Do we have a suspected mechanism by which this could occur?
I don't think this correlation implies a causation, same with alzheimer's.
I think you're incorrectly attributing to viral/bacterial infection what can more likely be explained by a difference in lifestyles. Nearly 80% of people who die from Leukemia are over the age of 65. People who die in airplane accidents are usually flying private and that is not a lifestyle all of us can afford.
I think it's more likely that doctors die of specific causes because they have more money than the average person, the knowledge to do their best to avoid heart disease and smoking (and other hazardous activities except apparently for flying private), or perhaps because they're exposed to chemicals through their work environment
I think you're incorrectly attributing to viral/bacterial infection what can more likely be explained by a difference in lifestyles. Nearly 80% of people who die from Leukemia are over the age of 65. People who die in airplane accidents are usually flying private and that is not a lifestyle all of us can afford.
I think it's more likely that doctors die of specific causes because they have more money than the average person, the knowledge to do their best to avoid heart disease and smoking (and other hazardous activities except apparently for flying private), or perhaps because they're exposed to chemicals through their work environment
Well obviously the answer here is “we don’t know.” But this is not the only piece of evidence pointing toward a viral theory of Alzheimer’s. There’s also higher prevalence of viral DNA in AD patients’ brains, especially near the amyloid plaques, people with severe HSV infections have much higher rates of AD, we know of many viruses that cause similar neurological issues as AD, VZV (chicken pox) can cause proliferation of AD-linked proteins, and we see evidence that antiretrovirals might have some preventative power against AD.
It’s certainly not conclusive, but this is not nearly as crazy a hypothesis as people (for some reason) reflexively assume it to be.
It’s certainly not conclusive, but this is not nearly as crazy a hypothesis as people (for some reason) reflexively assume it to be.
p-hacking
A lot of viruses can set up shop in the brain.
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People pair with others who have similar traits or traits they are used to (ie raised by a parent with this trait). Others pair with people who display traits they "need".
Hence, couples / group therapy.
What does `significantly` imply here, numerically? The numbers seem to be behind the paywall.
> People with a psychiatric disorder are more likely to marry someone who has the same condition than to partner with someone who doesn’t, according to a massive study
Or...