Can Depression Be Genetic
Overview & Facts ›› Depression Overview
More recently, experts realize that there can be several factors working together that will lead a person to become depressed. The most important of these are biological and genetic.
Genetic Factors
Scientists believe genetic factors play a role in some depressions. Researchers are hopeful, for instance, that they are closing in on genetic markers for susceptibility to manic-depressive disorder.
Genetic factors play a role for many people with depression and bipolar disorder, but it’s not an absolute risk. A genetic family history of depression merely gives you more information to draw from, with your goal being prevention, early detection, and quick treatment.
Biological Causes
If your parents suffered these problems, you will too. This does hold a little truth. Because while there is no genetic link to these problems, you can learn the modes of behavior that cause these problems from them throughout childhood. So, if your parents reacted to events in their lives that caused them to be stressed, depressed or anxious, you will learn them too. The good news is that just as you learned them you can unlearn them.
There’s a genetic depression that isn’t an official diagnosis. These individuals describe being oversensitive to rejection and criticism, difficulty being happy, pessimism, and spending most of their life between not quite depressed and not quite happy.