National & International

Metro & State

John Archibald
Local Government with Kyle Whitmire
The Race for Governor
On The Line: Gay/Straight in Alabama
Gay/Straight: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Gay/Straight: Bullying Gay Students
Gay/Straight: Marie Sutton on Gay Marriage
Gay/Straight: Spirituality
Magic City Marketplace
Gay/Straight in Alabama: Domestic Partner Benefits
Scrushy Ordered to Pay $2.9 Billion
What Does Six Flags Bankruptcy Mean for Alabama Adventure?
Foreign Policy Priorities: A Local Perspective
Collins & Carns: Occupational Tax
Collins & Carns: Jeffco Sewer Hearing
New Economic Incentive Law
Scrushy Trial Update
Birmingham's Budget: Child Care Resources
Whitmire on Budget Woes and Kid One Transport
Occupational Tax: An Overview
Legislative Review and Preview
Brunos Fallout: the Glenwood Pecans
War of Words
US Steel: Fairfield Fallout
Wilcox County Unemployment
More Budget Cuts?
Swine Flu and Alabama
RealtySouth Lawsuit
City Councilwoman Miriam Witherspoon Dies
News Features Archive

90.3 WBHM | Birmingham -- It's a long-standing debate -- what causes mental illness? At a recent seminar sponsored by Birmingham-area mental health advocacy groups, the message was mixed. The director of UAB's Mental Health Center, Jackie Feldman, stressed biology.

"Anybody, anybody here or any of your family members can get a mental illness. It can touch anybody at any time of their life."

While Reverend Caroline Pitts, who ministers the homeless at Birmingham's Church of the Reconciler, focused on the environment.

"Lifetime deprivation of love. Lack of caring parents, lack of money or resources. Anger that they have been passed over by the good things."

Christopher Hudson of Salem State University takes up this nurture-versus-nature debate in a paper in this month's issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

Listen to the Hudson interview

Christopher Hudson's research is published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry -- published by the American Psychological Association.

-- Tanya Ott, March 24, 2005

Editor's note: This is the latest story in a year-long commitment to covering mental health issues in Alabama. You can learn more about our "Making Sense of Mental Health" project and find local mental health resources -- as our commitment continues throughout the year -- inside this website.

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Making Sense of Mental Health

Dr. Christopher Hudson's research study