This lecture examines the topic of mental health and illness from the perspective of clinically relevant research and discusses common definitions. Dr. Nadine Bernhardt explains that mental illnesses, such as depression, schizophrenia and addiction, are caused by a combination of biological, genetic and environmental factors and what role the different stages of life play in this.

The brain is part of our body, just like any other organ, yet people with a mental illness often face stigma and discrimination. The concept of neurodiversity is introduced and questions where neurobiological differences can be seen as variations in human brain development and which criteria differentiate healthy from sick.