Sz genes vs. environment

I have a hard time accepting the fact that my sz is genetic. instead, I am looking forward environmental negatives that contributed and added up to my sz.

is anybody else here having this trouble?

judy

Its often both. For example, my family has a history of it, it runs on my dad’s side. I had birth trauma, was born with fluid in my lungs, was molested and had a near death experience all before the age of 10. My first delusion was at 11 years old. My case is both genetics and environment. But do understand that there IS a genetic component, its a genetic disorder, its just a matter of whether the genes are activated, so to speak. Its rather complex, I wrote a paper on genetic theories of schizophrenia, but to sum it all up, there are genes for it and sometimes they need to be activated by trauma or other environmental shits in the bucket.

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makes it tempting… to blame others for it. I try not to but often it preoccupies my mind, like a what-if scenario had things been better for me would I have had full blown sz? or any sz?

it bothers me much.

judy

um I sort of do blame the bullies from school and the woman who molested me.

Im adoptive so I dont know my genetics & it was so hard when I started going through changes my best friends parents where about to adopt me from my adoptive parents. Environment & trauma triggered me I got bellspaulsey at age 16 due to stress. Now my family understands me & loves me & helped finally get admitted to a hospital when I was 23 still I wish it would have happened sooner iv had all the signs besides haullucinations

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Yeah I think its a bit of both - genetic first and second environmental, but some people with schizophrenia never had a traumatic childhood and still got it. Genes play an important role

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Yes it’s both genes and environment. In my family my sister and niece have Bipolar and I have SZ. I think it comes from my mother’s family’s side, but there is not much evidence except that my mother’s father was an alcoholic at some stage in his life. Environmentally, I fell ill after I left school. The change in my life was too much for me to take in, where to go after school. Then my relapse I got after I married. So a big event or stress always used to precede a breakdown or episode.

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I have both environmental and genetics on my side. My father has schizoaffective disorder like me, my aunt has schizophrenia so does a cousin of my dad. My mom and brother both have bipolar disorder. I grew up in a hostile home and I was molested for years by a friend of my dad. I was bullied in school for as long as I can remember.

I think with me it’s pure genetics. I grew up in a stable and loving home, never abused or molested as a child. I might have been picked on by bullies in school but it was because I was slightly overweight and always taller than the rest of the kids, not to mention I was shy and non-athletic. But home was safe, home was clean, and home was happy growing up. I was born two months prematurely which I think has a large part to play in my development of Schizophrenia. There is also known cases of mental illness on both sides of the family, while it may not be full on Schizophrenia there are signs that some may have been slightly psychotic.

My first episodes happened during during the time around my first period. It was quiet or unnoticeable (most people just thought I was a bit odd but not psychotic) until I became 16 and was having full on delusions and hallucinations and it affected my ability to keep my A’s & B’s in school dropping to D’s and F’s, claiming I’d be someone else when I wasn’t…then later in life my next episodes came when I under stress which could prove the environment while I still had underlying symptoms I could hide it until I was so bogged down with stress my mind just snapped. But in general I always had symptoms it just depended on if I could control myself during the onset of the symptoms like if I could hide the fact that I was hearing voices by not responding to them outwardly. But they were still there regardless if I ignored them or not.

So yeah, I think it may be case by case but in my case it’s mostly genetics.

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Judy - the science now says that very few things are “just genetic” or “just environment” - the environment turns on the genes (if you have them ) - so its both.

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The environment also includes the (very important) prenatal (pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy) environment - including nutrition and stress. So - even with you there are likely environmental contributors.

a cocktail of ingredients leads to it

i don’t think it matters where it comes from…if a soldier is hit by a piece of shrapnel i don’t think he will spend the rest of his life analysing in which direction it came from !?!
seems like a pointless excercise…but that is just me ! no offence !
acceptance…is more healing.
take care

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darksith,

thanks for the acceptance approach you teach so well. i for one will try to learn such an approach.

judy

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Totally agree. Activated gene. And the activation trigger is major, major stress.

well in a way, your perception is right.
still if we know our circumstances, then it might be possible to treat it:

environmental circumstances- example cbt therapy
chemical inbalance -medication
genetics- maybe in the future dna modification?

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actually your idea about genetic mutations is right- they are working on it. That was on a test in intro to neuroscience I took as a freshman. Its a long ways off but will be for available within my lifetime, I am 21 years old.