factors include the range of social and economic determinants that protect us from or drive our exposure to environmental stressors, that affect our thought processes, and that interact to change our risk of developing a mental disorder. Childhood mental illness may be a reaction to environmental stresses, including trauma like being the victim of verbal, physical, or sexual violence, the death of a loved one or parental conflict, school problems, or being the victim of bullying or antisocial peer pressure. Gay teens are at higher risk for developing mental disorders like depression, thought to be because of the bullying by peers and potential rejection by family members. Children in military families are at risk for experiencing depression as well. Poverty and low physical activity may predispose a child to mental illness as well. These determinants are categorized as being proximal, meaning they occur at the level of individuals or families, and distal, meaning they are upstream, changing the structural arrangements of our society.
