To wonder if it's possible...

[Butterflykissess]

For a child to inherit mental illness from a parent? Has this happened to anyone?

I don't know about it being hereditary but kids can copy behaviour from parents so could replicate what they see/experience.
I used to work for a mental health team and a lot of patients had family members with mental illnesses.

I think there are hereditary patterns when it comes to mental health depending on which condition it is

The same mental illness runs through my family but we are not all genetically related. Could spark an interesting study into nature vs nurture!

If I had known what my illness was like before I had children however, I would not have had them.

Yes, it’s well documented that mental illness runs in families. Not clear if it is nature or nurture.

Epigenetics is a fairly new discipline which looks at the effects of trauma down the generations.
So for instance if a parent was a prisoner of war, their children’s DNA can be altered so that a particular aspect cannot be expressed. This must have a bearing on inheritance of my issues. Google it, it’s really interesting.

Depression runs in my family. My dad has it, my grandmother had it, a great - aunt committed suicide. I've had it and so have all my siblings. I have younger relatives who seem very unhappy Even with the 1-in - 4 statistic this seems like a lot to me.

But I think the causes of depression are many and complex. I strongly suspect that there may be a genetic aspect, but that in most cases genes alone won't be enough, there also need to be long term and short term factors. So something like

Genes + dysfunctional family of origin + unhelpful thinking style + trigger event(s) = increased likelihood of becoming ill.

And of course dysfunctional parenting as well as genes can be passed down through families (can be, but not always). But there are many protective factors that can reduce the likelihood too - I think MH is usually very complex.

I really think my son has got his father's mental illness. Although he is not involved in my son's life but my son is extremely paranoid.

Yes mental illness runs in families, there are likely biological and sociological reasons for this so it’s hard to point the way. I’ve suffered, as has my DSis, grandmother, aunt, her son, and probably my DDad. There’s definitely a familial link.

Have you sought help for your ds?

Well it's seems to have got worse recently. The school have referred him to a paed due to his anxiety but I think it's much more. he keeps seeing things that aren't there. And refusing to touch things other people have touched. For example if I've "touched dolls" today he won't want me touching him or any of his stuff. But recently he's been making up stories ( my sister being a zombie is one of them) and won't believe that it's not true and will scream and cry about it.

How old is he?

I inherited my mother's mental illnesses despite having very very little contact with her growing up.

Her mother and her mother before her both have severe mental illnesses and again, little to no contact.

I was raised by the most loving, stable, dependable father and had no knowledge of my mums struggles until adulthood. The nature/nurture debate fascinates me to be honest.

He's 6.

Someone will come along and tell you scientists talk rubbbish

Five major mental illnesses-depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia and autism-are traceable to the same inherited genetic variations, according to the largest genome-wide study of its kind.

www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2013/five-major-mental-disorders-share-genetic-roots.shtml