Scitzophrenia

[SilverLady67]

Hello -

I'm new to this site but I have a question that I would like some advice on.

If a birth mother and both paternal grandparents have diagnosed Scitzophrenia what is the likelihood of a child having it?

Also, do you think if a child is reared by parents who do not have Scitzophrenia that the child may not develop the illness?

Just looking for some thoughts please.

Thanks.

Hello

Maybe the NSF could advise you on this?

Hi silverlady I know a bit about this from my job and have double checked the figures in a textbook.

The risk for someone with a 1st degree relative (ie mother, father or sibling) is 1 in 10 (it is 1 in 100 for the general population) so basically 10x increased risk.

Being reared by parents without the illness won't change the chances (adoption studies have been done which show this).

hth

Thanks so much for your imput.

It is a child we were considering for adoption.

Thanks again.

I have no experience of adoption and obviously it is a massive decision but IMHO perhaps this shouldn't put you off altogether?
There is still a 9/10 chance that the child won't have schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia has a spectrum from mild to severe and most people can be treated with drugs and have a good quality of life.
I may be wrong about this bit but it would seem to me that most children or babies being put up for adoption these days would either have a disability themselves or be at risk from their parents/ parents not able to cope often due to drug and alcohol or mental health problems. (I don't think there are going to be many people voluntarily putting a baby up for adoption these days but stand willing to be corrected).
In a lot of these cases where children have suffered abuse or the mother has used drugs in pregnancy there will be a risk of behavioural or mental health problems that might be greater than the family history of schizophrenia but less easy to put a number on.