Do you think that mental conditions such as depression can be genetic?

Yes, I do. I suffer from depression and my daughters do as well. My aunt suffered from it even though they didn't recognize it as they do today. I believe we call this clinical depression. We all get depressed but when it lasts for long periods of time then it becomes clinical. I try to get plenty of fresh air, sunshine and I try to exercise to keep it at bay. I take medication for it so that it doesn't interupt my life. I can remember bouts of it when I was growing up. I think part of mine is related to childhood abuse. Good luck to you!

I believe that for many people mental conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder and others are genetic. We have several people in our family that suffer from depression. I think that it's becoming more widely recognized by doctors now, which is a very good thing.

Not really, in some extreme cases yes. Like manic depression/aggression. How on earth is a 4 year old suffering from depression? Please tell me they are not putting the child on medication. I never heard of that in my life and they should not already be planing on the child haveing anxiety and depression problems. I have anxiety problems, mostly due to my childhood. Never been depressed really, just have panic attacks. I don't believe in depression being genetic their are relatives of mine on anti-depression medication and I think it makes them worse. I was put on it for a little while but threw them out when they made me black out or not remember things.

I have suffered from depression for as long as I can remember. As a child, I often complained of headaches and stomach aches, even though there was usually nothing really physically hurting. I never knew then that this is a normal thing for kids to do and say when they have depression. I know now that my mother has it, even though she would never admit to it or even believe it herself. But it is hereditary in my family, along with a lot of other conditions, both mental and physical.

im not sure, but i believe that its most likely to be genetic

There can be a genetic pre-disposition to depression ie you can be genetically more likely to suffer from it. There is also the environmental factor. If a person grows up around depressed family-members they are socially more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. Phobias can also be picked up by children from adults.

Experts have now realized that there can be several factors working together that will lead a person to become depressed. The three most important of these are biological, genetic, and environmental factors. Scientists believe genetic factors play a role in some, but not all, depressions. For example, if one identical twin suffers from depression or manic-depressive disorder, the other twin has a 70 percent chance of also having the illness. It has long been known that depressive illnesses can run in families, but until fairly recently it was not fully known whether people inherited a susceptibility to these illnesses or if something else such as the environment was the true culprit. Those who research depression have been able to determine that to some extent depressive illnesses can be inherited. What appears to be inherited is a vulnerability to depression. This means that if we have close relatives who have clinical depression, we may inherit a tendency to develop the illness. It does not mean that we are destined to become depressed. However, the outcome of the latest research suggests that there may be specific genes that cause clinical depression to develop within certain families and not in others.

yes it can and if the child grow up with parents effected by mental illness it can effect them too depending on how bad it is

i think there is reasonable claim to that i suffer from severe depression as do a couple of my sisters and my daughter went through a period of depression also

I absolutely think mental conditions can be genetic. My friend is bi-polar as is her mother. Bi-polar and OCD run in my fiance's family - but the Bi-polar is only in the men while the OCD is in both the male and female.

I don't think so right noe im suffering from depression and neither in my family suffer from this.

it possible. some depressions is caused by a chemical inbalance in your brain. i would asume it can be passed on.

i'm a psych major and in all of my classes we're learning that you can be genetically predisposed for depression. it's true.

I know drs think so but i dont aslong as you treat your kids well and love them why would they be depressed

Yes I think it could be genetic, I have not seen it happen first hand but I've read about it.

I think depression and other mental things are genetic. My grandma had depression, mom has it as does my brother and I.

no

I think it gentic.

I had post partum depression after my daughter was born and it was horrible

I think that many mental conditions can be genetic. I've known SEVERAL instances where different forms of depression ran in families. In many cases the ones more recently diagnosed had NO idea that grandparents, aunts, uncles, ect. had been treated in the past.