Editing Temperament (section)

===Temperament vs. psychiatric disorders ===

Several psychiatrists and differential psychologists have suggested that temperament and mental illness represent varying degrees along the same continuum of neurotransmitter imbalances in neurophysiological systems of behavioral regulation.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1098/rstb.2017.0168|pmid=29483352|pmc=5832692|title=Assessing the continuum between temperament and affective illness: Psychiatric and mathematical perspectives|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=373|issue=1744|pages=20170168|year=2018|last1=Sulis|first1=W.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmc=4370336|year=2014|last1=Watson|first1=D|title=Personality, Emotions, and the Emotional Disorders|journal=Clinical Psychological Science|volume=2|issue=4|pages=422–442|last2=Naragon-Gainey|first2=K|doi=10.1177/2167702614536162|pmid=25815243}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/s12888-018-1695-x|pmid=29747614|pmc=5946468|title=There is more to mental illness than negative affect: Comprehensive temperament profiles in depression and generalized anxiety|journal=BMC Psychiatry|volume=18|issue=1|pages=125|year=2018|last1=Trofimova|first1=I.|last2=Sulis|first2=W |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In fact, the original four types of temperament (choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine) suggested by [[Hippocrates]] and [[Galen]] resemble mild forms of types of psychiatric disorders described in modern classifications. Moreover, Hippocrates-Galen hypothesis of chemical imbalances as factors of consistent individual differences has also been validated by research in neurochemistry and psychopharmacology, though modern studies attribute this to different compounds. Many studies have examined the relationships between temperament traits (such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, neuroticism, endurance, plasticity, sociability or extraversion) and various neurotransmitter and hormonal systems (i.e., the very same systems implicated in mental disorders).

Even though temperament and psychiatric disorders can be presented as, correspondingly, weak and strong imbalances within the same regulatory systems, it is incorrect to say that temperament is a weak degree of these disorders. Temperament might be a disposition to develop a mental disorder, but it should not be treated as a guaranteed marker for disorders.