Schizophrenia?

Question

My uncle and grandpa have schizophrenia and the rest of the familys mental health status isnt very good. I was wondering if schizophrenia is genetic and if other mental health issues are. Would I be able to tell if I had mental health issues? I am a good student, im not paranoid and pretty much a normal teen. Please help thanks!

Answer 1

Yes, there is a genetic link to most mental illness, but that alone is not enough to 'cause schizophrenia to occur. Even in identical twins it doesn't always happen to both of them! There has to be life stressors to 'cause schizophrenia. Some have suggested that joining the military can cause an onset of schizophrenia in those with genetic predisposition.

Schizophrenia usually doesn't have an onset until the early to late twenties, but it's not something that you really need to worry about.

How would you know? While in the early stages of schizophrenia often patients know that they are experiencing abnormal mental activity, but are too afraid or ashamed to tell anyone. As I'm sure you know, caught in the early stages, a person with schizophrenia has dramatically better prospects.

What can you do to prevent schizophrenia and other mental disorders? Practice a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally. Take care of yourself. Keep a regular journal, exercise, involve yourself with hobbies, eat properly etc. Of course, it may happen anyways, but these things are great anyways!

Answer 2

Most mental illnesses have genetic links (except of course, PTSD, and illnesses that result from tramas in life). Schizophrenia is a spectrum disorder (other spectrum disorders are: downsyndrom, depression, etc. Spectrum disorder just means there are varying degrees.), some people live normal happy lives, while others can't function. The good knews is, with medication and therapy most schizophrenia is quite manageable. Because your uncle and grandfather have it, and your parents don't you are less likely to have it. But if you have a lot of mental illness in your family you are more likely to get one of those illnesses. The bad thing is that signs of schizophrenia don't usually show until your late teens or 20's.

I was in your shoes just a couple of years ago. My grandmother had schizophrenia (undiagnosed), my other grandmother had something like schizophrenia but we're not sure what, and pretty much everyone else in my family has had depression or anxiety. Until I was about 16 I was always on high honors, I was happy, and a normal teen. Then I got really depressed, semi-paranoid, and started having anxiety attacks. I started cutting myself, b/c I was so sad and felt I couldn't control anything. I was diagnosed as severely clinicly depressed with anxiety. I tried a lot of different medications( a lot with crappy side effects), but finally I found one that works, and I started going to therapy. I'm 21 now. I ended up graduating a year late from high school b/c teachers didn't understand why I couldn't get up in the morning. ( I found out at 18 that I also have fibromyalgia.) Now I attend SUNY Cortland in central NY. I have a 3.0 GPA, and I'm a psychology major.

Your best bet is to watch your thoughts and behaviors, if something seems really weird or out of the ordinary, see a doctor. Mention to your parents your worries, because people around you notice differences in your behavior usually before you do. And, don't let this worry you too much, your a kid, act like a kid, and live for today!

Answer 3

Schizophrenia does tend to run in families but that doesn't mean everyone in the family will have schizophrenia.

I used to work for a mental hospital. We had identical twin brothers as patients and both of them had Paranoid Schizophrenia.

Later on, I found out they weren't twins, they were two of a set of triplets. They have sister, she has no mental illness and she is an attorney. It's quite remarkable that she got an education like that because there were a very poor family.

Answer 4

I'm pretty sure schizophrenia is genetic, as are a lot of mental health issues, but that doesn't mean that you automatically have it, it just means that you're at a higher risk. Webmd is really helpful for diagnosing illnesses. It tells you how you may have gotten it, symptoms, treatment, etc. Good luck :)

Answer 5

The big clue that mental health issues are erupting is when you can no longer live your life normally. When it is intefering with your daily life.

I'm sorry to say that mental health problems are geneticly transferred.

On my dad's side of the family, the ladies all have hormone problems (not enough estrogen) which manifest themselves in depression. All of them (so strange). My sister and I also have this problem and we're watching our daughters.

Just like in my Dad's family every single one is deaf in their left ear. Genetics!

There is always room to work with in genetics though. You have two people that contributed to your genetic makeup. You will not necessarily take after your mom, you might take after your dad.

If it's not bothering your daily life, you are fine. Keep up your studies. Education is the key to a successful career!

Take care
Debbie
TX Mom

Answer 6

You might later on develope a mental problem but if your not aware of it by now then you probably dont have one. Ive never heard that schizophrenia being genetic but I guess anything is possible.

Answer 7

Mental health disorders do indeed tend to run in families. There is still an ongoing debate over whether or not it is inherited or learned behavior. And yes, most people are aware when they have an issue...they may deny it, but they are aware.

Answer 8

It tends to be hereditary, and usually shows up during the early prime of someone's life - approximately age 19 to 23.
But just because it's hereditary, doesn't mean that you will get it. Probably one in 10 chance or less.
There is also a large spectrum of severity, ranging from mild borderline to more severe.

Answer 9

i dont know about the other mental disorder's but, as for clinical depression. if you dont have depression now a trama can bring it out of you and just doesnt go away. so try to stay clean keep your life straight. try to be happy as best as you can. learn about spirituality. so this way when bad thing's come in your life. you can turn to god or your strong self to find the answer that will quell the conflict.

Answer 10

schizophrenia can run in families, but it is not very heritable. If you have one parent with the disease, you have a <10% chance of having it (or >90% chance of not having it). Your risk is very low.

Having said that, there are some people who don't have the full-blown disease who have a portion of the disease, called