Can plants, insects, animals and fish suffer mental disorders?

Let’s ask them

@josie The last plant I talked to was catatonic.

They’re all that way

We think of psychological disorders like anxiety and depression as uniquely human problems, but many other species could be suffering from them too.

Frequently females suffer post partum depression. They won’t take care of their babies.

^ true dat.

Physical disorders are clear to see, but mental may be harder or maybe strange patterns of behavior could be mental or who knows the reasons even environmental cause plants and insects problems.
Until we all suddenly develop spidey senses we won’t know for sure.
Just recently on TV it showed an experiment where sound can affect waves in water so it must affect insects and plants as well, but we have not studied that as yet.

Well, “mental disorders” are specific human (Western psychiatry) categories for humans, so in that sense no. Also no in the sense that those disorders are partly about humans fitting into human society.

But generally, yes, though most humans are pretty bad at understanding animals and so animal mental disorders not very well studied or defined.

But some are, sort of. Immediate examples come to mind in terms of our domesticated animals, and well-known situations such as abused animals’ reactions to stimuli associated with their abuse.

Numerous studies have been done. I recall reading more than forty years ago about baby monkeys being taken from their mommies. They were given food, and kept in a safe and comfortable environment. They were deprived af all contact.
They suffered depression and were prone to bursts of aggression.

When I was a child living on a farm we had a wonderful border collie. He had the most beautiful attitude. We got him as a pup. He was about five or six when we moved to a city home. Amid protests from me and my brother he was given away to a farm dweller, so he would not be deprived of room to run.
I learned years later that he was so depressed at losing us he refused all food and died, sad and emaciated.

Animals can, but not plants.

Look at all these crazy trees !

@Zaku Wow! Beautiful .

My cat is an asshole. She suffers from a deep mistrust and paranoia.

Asshole cat is redundant.

LOL! I had a cat who accidentally took a tumble in the dryer for a few spins. God I felt horrible. I opened the dryer door and she came stumbling out….then I had to ask, “How can you tell if a cat is brain damaged?”

When it jumps back in and presses start.

LOLL!!
I got kicked off of a FB page called, “Black Cats Rule” for refusing to treat my cat as though it was in mourning because we’ had to put our dog down a few weeks earlier…AND I MOVED HER FREAKING FOOD BOWL ON TOP OF IT!!! WHAT KIND OF A MONSTER WAS I!?!??!?!?.
Seriously. I got kicked off and blocked, LOL!