Hello, my mother has Bipolar Disorder and I have Paranoid Schizophrenia. I have no other relatives with mental illness. I was just wondering if there’s a genetic link between the two? I’ve read that people with schizophrenia could pass their mentall illness on to their kids, but am not sure wheter it’s the same for bipolar.
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I have a biology degree and have training in genetics. I’m of the opinion that everything is genetic in some way. The environment can effect whether or not a gene is expressed. Childhood abuse for example can cause bipolar disorder or schizophrenia to appear earlier as was in my case. I have childhood onset schizophrenia since age 9. I also was recently diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder. My ex-wife and 8 year old son both are bipolar too. So there is a genetic component. Psychological disorders for the most part are linked in many ways. So the genetic component for schizophrenia could effect the genetic component for bipolar disorder. Genes are also linked to each other. So if one gene is turned on (say for schizophrenia) another gene may be turned on (say for bipolar disorder) in you or your children.
Hi- I am not trained in biology but I know some about genetic diseases due to me having one. Do you believe that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have matrilineal inheritance?
Maybe, but I’m not entirely positive
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