Do your parents have mental issues? Is it genetic?

my mom has depression and anxiety, my brother has bipolar disorder with adhd and autism. My dad has schizoaffective disorder. his sister has schizophrenia and I have schizoaffective disorder.

It’s been a while since biology class for many of us but I do remember during the meiotic process (division producing gametes), when the homologous chromosomes join, crossing-over occurs. This leads to a new combination of genes and a new chance of variation… Also, dna can be damaged and if it happens to be damage to the sexual reproductive cell that your son was made from it can start there. I am not saying it is your fault.

no history of sz but alot of bipolar my daughters

I would imagine autism would be so hard combined with adhd. Not saying schizoaffective is a walk in the park but it is probably more treatable with medicine.

Well he is believing it…the doc told him basically it was from smoking or it was in part something in the way of a perfect storm due to a number of things. We are only in our 2nd mnth of this and evrything ppl are telling us is so hard to take in. He is just trying to get thru the medication part let alone being told all the myths about it.

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My mother has been diagnosed bipolar but as I’ve come to have a better understanding of schizophrenia, I strongly believe she has that too… I have no idea about my father, he’s not in the picture, but I know he has delusions… So I suppose it’s possible… I had a baby almost a year ago, so I guess we’ll see how she turns up… She seems perfectly normal typical right now but she’s only 11 months old so it would be kind of hard to tell LOL

my brother went through a lot with his doctors and it took 10 years to find a good one. he went to one that had him on so many meds that he just basically slept all day and was up eating all night.

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Hi - its both genetic / biological and environmental (pregnancy nutrition, infections, stress, etc.) - but I recommend you read upon on it here:

Preventing Schizophrenia:

Many of the researchers we talk to say that they believe that most cases of schizophrenia are preventable if you can avoid these factors that increase the risk of schizophrenia.

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My family has a bunch of people with mental illness in it, including me. I guess this just makes the genetic gamble of having a biological child more risky, but there are always risks. Plus, all children are born into this harsh world.

As much as my whole life is messed up by having mental illness and as much as my family member suffers with sz, I just don’t believe that people should be eugenicists. All human beings are valuable and worthwhile.

Since sz affects approx 1% of the world population, it seems like scientists are trying for a false sense of control over these illnesses when they say they could have been prevented by not having a cat or not being bullied or not being born in winter. Millions of people experience the environmental “causes” of sz and NEVER get it.

Paternal grandfather: What now would be called major depression

Paternal gt uncle : Ditto

Paternal grandmother’s side of the family: tendency to hyperthymia

Father: No known issues

Mother: Never diagnosed with anything but neurotic and alcoholic /problem drinker
Alcohol could trigger some degree of paranoia

Brother: Diagnosed with autoimmune related psychosis at 56. Cannabis smoker and other drugs. Has got more paranoid over the years ? cannabis related.

Sister: Bout of depression. Was on AD but not under psych services.

Brother,mother, and sister- some degree of addictive personality.

Mention of a few quite distant relatives that were decidedly odd.

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Mom has ocd dad has ptsd and was violent when i was growing up…my sister is a hypochondriac as is one of my grandmas…my cousin is autistic my grandpa has dementia. Theres a couple more i cant remember.

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grand grand mother - schizophrenia
grand mother - schizophrenia
aunt - schizophrenia
mom - depression
dad - undiagnosed, but have paranoid delusions
me - psychotic depression

My Mom has bipolar or SZ. Not sure which because I get different stories depending on who I talk to.

My Sister has told me she used to have Panic Attacks when she in her very early 20s and very late teens. She now has 4 neurotypical kids.

I have SZA.

My Uncle has depression.

both my parents are normal.

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Neither my parents or sisters have mental illness

From what I’ve heard about the mental illnesses of my other family members, they don’t have any psychotic disorders. However, my mother went through a phase in her life in which she would have hallucinations. Depression, anxiety, autism, and ADHD tend to run in my family. If my psychosis turns out to be chronic, I will probably be one of the first members of my family to have it.

There is no history of mental illness in my immediate family as far back as we know; I have asked because you usually hear that it’s genetic. My parents and sisters are all normal. One of my grandmothers was diabetic and my other grandmother and grandfather were alcoholics but no mental illness. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins are all normal and mostly high functioning. I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia relatively late in life mostly due to chronic environmental stress. All the right buttons got pushed at once, at least that’s my best guess looking back on it all. I have a healthy 23 year old son.

My parents are pretty normal

There is no mental illness in my family except for me.

Do you have catatonic schizophrenia? I noticed your name. I was catatonic for 5-6 months but am ok now. My voice came back one day gradually and I could walk and move my eyes again during that same week.