2007-09-30 20:11:41 · 7 answers · asked by pastasauce88 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ People with Disabilities
....hi, mouse
2007-09-30 20:36:29 · update #1
It really depends on what type of mentally challenged condition you are referring to. Mentally challenged covers a broad spectrum from mild depression, to major psychiatric disorders to pervasive learning disorders such as autism, asbergers syndrome, or downs syndrome. My son is autistic and there is no one on either side of our families which suffer from it, there is a relative by marriage(not blood related) who had downs syndrome and no one in their family had it. I have heard it is possible that heredity can play a factor but very rarely does it. Now, Emotional disorders is a different story. I am bipolar and so is my brother and my mother. Depression can also be inherited if it is clinical depression which only responds to medications. Things like personality disorders are more condition caused ,meaning its usually brought on by enviromental factors and past history, not heredity. Alcoholism and drug addiction has been debated for years as some psychiatrists believe that heredity can be a factor while others believe that the persons environment past and present is the factor. Personally, I believe either can be factors as I have personally seen both situations.
2007-10-04 18:32:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some cognitive and psychiatric disabilities have genetic attributes, but most don't. If a person has a chromosome related disability (Down syndrome) they virtually never have genes they can pass on. If a person has some mental health diagnosis - like schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder or specific learning disabilities - they definitely run in families. If a person has a TBI (traumatic brain injury) or CP (cerebral palsy) - if they have cognitive difficulties it is from an injury and cannot be passed on.
Mental challenges is a nonsensical term and means absolutely nothing. It can mean anything from a mild depression to severe autism to a learning disability to schizophrenia to head injuries to people recovering from comas.
2007-10-01 03:25:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Not necessarily.
There are over 2500 types of conditions that causes intellectual disability - and yet.... the cause of 80% of people who have this disability can not be determined. It "just happened" - due to whatever reason in the brain during, just before or just after pregnancy.
Many peole with intellectually disability are this way NOT because of genetics but purely of brain dysfunction. That means physically and genetically - these people will not pass on any cognitive impairment to their offspring. However.... again - I must emphasise that it is NOT true in every case. Especially for those who may have a genetic link to the condition - they will likely pass on the disability.
It is NOT a hard and fast rule that anyone with intellectual disability WILL pass on the same impariment to the children.
2007-09-30 20:28:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
My great niece inherited Down Syndrome from her mother which is very rare, her mom didn't have it and neither grand parent had the gene for it. I think she might be able to pass it on, if her mom had more children they might have had the same gene. Hers is Translocation Down Syndrome with her 7th chromosome not the regular kind.
2007-10-01 12:25:45 · answer #4 · answered by shipwreck 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Everybody has hereditary genes....Did you mean did they inherit their disability or will they pass it on?
2007-10-02 08:21:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You seem to be normal. Dumb question.
2007-10-02 17:06:30 · answer #6 · answered by scruff 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Some do,but not all!
2007-10-01 23:30:45 · answer #7 · answered by starone 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋