schizophrenia

[FTVS]

Is it heriditary? My mother is schizophrenic and as my hubby and i considering having children, I wondered what the odds are of passing it on my children? Neither of us suffer from it.

[Greedyfly]

I am unsure as to whether Schizophrenia is Heriditory, but I have a family history of mental illnes and every family memeber that I know of has had some sort of Depression or mania etc... Again I am unsure it is has been proven Heridtory but from my view I feel that there must be a link. It may be worth having a chat with your GP about this.

[incitatus]

there is a raised incidence of schizophrenia in a family with a strong history, but it is not strictly hereditary. not sure of the numbers exactly but it is something like 20% more likely, which is still quite low....

[KARL]

There is some evidence to suggest schizophrenia like other forms of illness, physical and mental, is to some extent hereditary and there are certain families plagued by this illness in successive generations. Some argue that even when not so extreme a predisposition is inherited and yet others say this predisposition can pass an entire lifetime without showing itself while in others the illness is triggered by certain conditions (sometimes/usually unknown). The bottom line is that even though this is far from being an unknown affliction, with all other mental illness it is something of a Cinderella within medical research and has not had anything like the research funding it should have to reflect the incidence. Mental illness is not as glamorous a field for researchers (or their backers) to enter as, say, cancer or IVF, etc. Discuss this with some authority in the field (best of all go to someone in research/academe if you can). You face a difficult choice - but remember, no embrio is guaranteed a burden free life.

[treaclefight]

i say no, because the paranoid schizophrenic in my family is completely alone...doesnt help with the paranoia does it (dont mean to be flippant, after 30 years im allowed to be, no malice or offence intended)