What mental diseases are inherited
Are mental diseases inherited? This question worries many parents. After all, it is very scary to “reward” your child with a mental disorder.
How are mental illnesses transmitted?
The fact that mental illness can be inherited, it was noticed long ago. Today, geneticists confirm: indeed, mental disorders are more likely to occur in a child in a family where a relative has suffered from a similar ailment. And the reason for this are violations in the structure of genes.
There is such a thing as the coefficient of hereditary risk. The higher this ratio, the higher the likelihood that the child will inherit the illness of relatives.
Only some mental illnesses, such as Huntington’s chorea, with a hereditary risk factor of 5,000, are directly related to breakdowns in the genes. For comparison, for a mental illness such as schizophrenia, it is equal to 9.
Mental disorders are more often caused by a combination of hereditary predispositions and external causes: traumatic brain injury, traumatic events, personal tragedies, intrauterine injuries, intoxications, etc. This means that even if the relatives suffer from a mental disorder, the child will not necessarily inherit their illness.
How does the degree of kinship affect hereditary diseases?
The risk of developing mental illness depends on the degree of kinship with a sick family member and the number of sick relatives.
Psychiatric Rosy caused by hereditary predisposition
The greatest likelihood of transmitting the disease in identical twins, then comes the 1st degree relationship (parents, children, brothers, sisters). Relatives of 2nd degree of kinship significantly reduce the risk
Thus, in case of schizophrenia present in the mother and father, the probability of its occurrence in children is 46%, if one parent is ill – about 13%, the grandfather or grandmother is ill – 5%.
What mental diseases are inherited most often?
1. Violations of the mental development of children
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is manifested by impulsivity, difficulty concentrating, and increased motor activity. Often this disorder is combined with depressive states, behavioral disorders.
Dyslexia – the inability to read, compare what is written, with speech in some cases has a hereditary character.
Autism is a severe mental disorder, manifested in a violation of social adaptation. The autistic child is closed, he does not want to communicate with the outside world, exists in his personal space. He endures no change, he has his own rituals, which he strictly adheres to. He constantly repeats stereotypical movements (swaying, jumping) or the same phrases.
Usually, the diagnosis of autism is made in the first three years of a child’s life.
It is believed that the role of heredity in the occurrence of this disease is great.
Distracted attention may be due to mental disorder
2. Schizophrenia
This is a mental illness characterized by disturbances in thinking, perception of the world, inappropriate behavior and an abnormal reaction to stimuli. The disease may be accompanied by agitation, delusions, hallucinations. Patients are prone to depression and are prone to suicide.
As a rule, the onset of the disease occurs in age from 20-22 to 30 years.
Heredity plays a significant role in the occurrence of this disease, but other factors are also of no less importance: complications of gestation, difficult birth to the mother, infections, severe emotional situations and even birth in the winter.
3. Affective bipolar disorder
Otherwise, this mental illness is called manic-depressive psychosis. It takes place with alternating phases: depression and arousal, sometimes with aggression. Between these phases there are gaps of enlightenment.
Mobility and arousal
4. Alzheimer’s Disease
This disease develops after 65 years and is expressed first in forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating. Then there is confusion, loss of orientation in space. Irritability, unmotivated aggression appear, speech is disturbed. Dementia develops.
Rarely enough, the disease begins earlier, and here the hereditary factor, the pathological gene, plays a significant role.
Other inherited mental illnesses:
epilepsy;
psychopathy;
alcohol addiction;
dementia;
Down syndrome;
Huntington’s chorea;
feline cry syndrome;
Klinefelter syndrome.
All these mental illnesses can be inherited. At the same time, they may appear in a family where no one has suffered from such disorders. True, the risk of disease in this case is less, but it exists. So, you can get schizophrenia in a completely “healthy” family with a probability of 1%.
If there is a risk
Many people are afraid to pass on hereditary diseases to children (even if distant relatives suffered from them), especially mental disorders, and therefore prefer to refuse to give birth to a child.
