section_path: Risk factors/Environment
section_name: Environment
paragraph_text: Environment
  
  During the prenatal stage, factors like unwanted pregnancy, lack of adaptation to pregnancy or substance use during pregnancy increases the risk of developing a mental disorder. Maternal stress and birth complications including prematurity and infections have also been implicated in increasing susceptibility for mental illness. Infants neglected or not provided optimal nutrition have a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment.
  
  Social influences have also been found to be important, including abuse, neglect, bullying, social stress, traumatic events, and other negative or overwhelming life experiences. Aspects of the wider community have also been implicated, including employment problems, socioeconomic inequality, lack of social cohesion, problems linked to migration, and features of particular societies and cultures. The specific risks and pathways to particular disorders are less clear, however.
  
  Nutrition also plays a role in mental disorders.
  
  In schizophrenia and psychosis, risk factors include migration and discrimination, childhood trauma, bereavement or separation in families, recreational use of drugs, and urbanicity.
  
  In anxiety, risk factors may include parenting factors including parental rejection, lack of parental warmth, high hostility, harsh discipline, high maternal negative affect, anxious childrearing, modelling of dysfunctional and drug-abusing behavior, and child abuse (emotional, physical and sexual). Adults with imbalance work to life are at higher risk for developing anxiety.
  
  For bipolar disorder, stress (such as childhood adversity) is not a specific cause, but does place genetically and biologically vulnerable individuals at risk for a more severe course of illness.