Are their particular aspects, configurations, between the planets, signs, and houses, that determine mental disorders?
I would think a YOD and Grand Cross, would definitely cause some sort of emotional turmoil. Any other ideas?
I don't believe that such gross things such as a yod or a grand cross can be used to define mental and emotional disorders.
I do believe that you have to first separate them out into what would be physical disorders with emotional and mental manifestations, emotional disorders which are primarily disorders of the brain's limbic system, and then disorders which are primarily disorders of the cortex, that is the the disorders of thinking itself.
Of course all of them inter-relate each other.
You should read some of the works of Martha Lang-Wescott in her studies of asteroids. She believes the the asteroid Psyche primarily represents the brain, but I tend to believe that it primarily represents the cortex of the brain but necessarily the limbic system or the brain stem.
It is my belief that one is most likely to determine these things by more subtle measurement, but most specifically by asteroids, fixed stars, arabic points, Witte Sensitive points and other point measurements, all which impact the most powerful most high friction planets in the natal chart, but that they impact all the planets in the chart for these things to become full blown.
I have a client who has borderline personality disorder, which is more commonly called a "professional victim" disorder by those in the field. This person has one of several of the victim asteroids aspecting all of his/her planets in his/her chart. It is clearly indicative by the Arabic parts and the fixed stars also, as well as the high latitude moon.