Posted by partlycloudy on February 28, 2005, at 15:16:43
In reply to Now My Son Has Depression Too!!, posted by just so sad on February 28, 2005, at 15:01:42
Last fall my nephew was finally taken for a psych assessment after having problems at school - one of the things the psychiatrist asked for was a mental illness history from the immediate family. It turns out that my nephew, his dad (my brother), my sister, me, and our father have all had Major Depression. Our dad was the only one who was hospitalized for it, but we don't have anyone to ask on his side of the family about earlier generations' histories. Now, not everyone in our family has suffered from depression; only half of us!
It seems like such a raw deal, doesn't it? At least now I feel like I have a better chance of living a happier life with the tools at hand than my dad did. And personally, I think that this knowledge is a good thing to have - perhaps with the possibility of inheritance playing a large role in the illness, we can reduce the stigma that depression still carries.
poster:partlycloudy
thread:464482
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050224/msgs/464489.html