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The hidden links between mental disorders

Psychiatrists have a dizzying array of diagnoses and not enough treatments. Hunting for the hidden biology underlying mental disorders could help.
  1. Michael Marshall

    1. Michael Marshall is a freelance writer based in Devon, UK.

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Conceptual illustration representing mental disorders.

Illustration by Paweł Jońca

In 2018, psychiatrist Oleguer Plana-Ripoll was wrestling with a puzzling fact about mental disorders. He knew that many individuals have multiple conditions — anxiety and depression, say, or schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He wanted to know how common it was to have more than one diagnosis, so he got his hands on a database containing the medical details of around 5.9 million Danish citizens.

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Nature 581, 19-21 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00922-8

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