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Our family history not only helps gauge any potential physical illness but also risks to any mental health concerns. Unlike physical diseases that have only biological roots, psychiatric illnesses have biological, social, and psychological origins.
Modern science has demonstrated that our genetic makeup determines the characteristics and qualities we have. However, can genetics also influence our propensity to inherit mental health disorders?
How Family History can Impact Mental Health
It has been acknowledged that genes may contribute to mental health illnesses as researchers continue to investigate their causes. Some case studies indicate that mental health illnesses can run in families and can be inherited.
Here are five ways in which family history may impact mental health:
#1 Epigenetics
A new discipline of genetics known as epigenetics demonstrates that our behavior and emotions may have such an impact on our biology that they produce modifications in the genes passed down through numerous generations.
This indicates that stress linked to mental health issues in your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents may change your DNA, making you more vulnerable to problems.
Additionally, if your ancestors had poor diets, were exposed to environmental pollutants, endured long-term stress, or did not receive adequate prenatal nutrition, that altered their DNA, which then modified yours, making mental health issues more likely to manifest.
2) Chromosomal Abnormalities
For the first time, researchers established a genetic basis for mental disorders in 1980s, when they discovered that people with bipolar disorder shared a chromosomal abnormality.
Researchers discovered that patients were more likely to have abnormalities in chromosomes 3 and 10 if they had at least one of the following five mental health conditions: autism, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
3) High heritability of some disorders
According to research, the heritability rate for ADHD is 75%. This indicates that if you have ADHD, there's a 75% chance that at least one of your parents contributed genes for the condition to you.
Other studies have indicated that the heritability of bipolar illness is 59%, and the heredity of schizophrenia is 64%. Knowing the history of mental illness in your family can greatly help you and your physician in making a diagnosis and selecting a treatment plan.
4) Self-medication
You are more prone to adopt some of these negative habits if other family members self-medicate with harmful substances — such as alcohol, cigarettes, narcotics, or marijuana — or by engaging in harmful activities. While genes play a major role, habits also tend to appear in family history.
Exposure to these habits may encourage you to make them your own coping mechanisms. Issues with mental and/or brain health are a result of these behaviors. Additionally, early trauma in the offspring and grandchildren of alcoholics resets brain activity to a higher-than-normal level, putting them at risk for emotional problems in the future.
5) Prediction of Severity
Researchers have discovered that a question-and-answer session of 30 minutes or less is sufficient to forecast a patient's approximate risks for getting each disorder and the expected severity of their future sickness.
Unlike a minority of children with mental diseases that require treatment, many children with behavioral issues may outgrow them on their own without medication. The simplest and quickest approach to figuring that out is through family history.
A study has been tracking the physical and mental health, as well as the lifestyle of participants recruited in a longitudinal study since they were three.
The researchers compared each person's 'scores' — the percentage of their grandparents, parents, and siblings over the age of 10 who were affected by depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and drug dependence — to their actual experiences with these conditions.
The analysis found that each of the four illnesses can have a more recurring course based on family history. Additionally, it's a sign of those who are more likely to experience worse impairments and utilize mental health services more frequently. In contrast to previous research, people with a more significant family history did not always manifest their problems at a younger age.
Takeaway
It may be difficult to pinpoint if an individual’s mental health illness as the outcome of their family history.
However, if you or someone you know may be suffering from such signs, it may be worth speaking to a mental health specialist. The important thing to remember is that even if you have a predisposition for a mental health disorder, it doesn't mean you will end up having it.
Taking the necessary precautions and taking care of your well-being can offset this cycle that continues to run in many families.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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