HEREDITY AND MENTAL ILLNESS (FROM FAMILIES TODAY: A RESEARCH SAMPLER ON FAMILIES AND CHILDREN, VOLUME II, P 697- 708, 1979, EUNICE CORFMAN, ED. -- SEE NCJ-146059)

• NCJ Number: 146066
• Author(s): D Rosenthal; E S Gershon; H Yahraes
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 12 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Research has confirmed the influence of heredity in such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and depression.

Abstract

Rates of schizophrenia among parents of schizophrenics have been found to run as high as 12 percent. Further, when children of schizophrenic parents are raised by normal foster parents, a greater number of them become schizophrenic also. For identical twins who have the same genetic inheritance, the chances are about even that if one twin becomes schizophrenic or depressed, the other twin will too. A strong genetic element in depression has been documented in numerous studies of depressed persons and their relatives. Chemical and physiological processes associated with genetic explanations of schizophrenia and depression are explored, along with research on the biochemical basis of depression. The availability of genetic counseling to help prospective parents weigh the chances of producing a child who may be vulnerable to serious mental illness is noted. 12 references