Developmental Issues and Mental Health.

The trajectory of human development follows a predictable course of milestones. As genomic research has brought us more understanding of the brain, the etiology of mental illness is progressing from psychodynamic origins postulated by Freud in 1960 to organic pathways and epigenetic derivations. Humans develop on normal pathways that can be derailed by poverty, illness, and trauma. When infants begin life from a healthy perspective, conditions that may follow such as a mental disorder may be moderated by healthy starts. In this paper, selected developmental theories and mental disorders are presented; then their interface is discussed. Implications for nursing are outlined.