fadedlynx96 said:I used to research schizophrenia twenty years ago using the old-fashioned method of scouring library stacks. I assume all that data is available on the internet now, though I haven't bothered to check.
The only thing I recall clearly is that schizophrenia isn't an inherited disease; perhaps a predisposition is passed down, but not the condition itself—though again, that was two decades ago.
I remember hearing something on the radio here in the US recently about researchers finding either genetic markers or brain similarities shared among five major psychiatric disorders—schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD, and two others I can't quite name. That was the last I heard; it won't be in a textbook, but likely exists somewhere online.
Similarly, I heard today, probably here in America as well, that a young girl was cured of HIV. By definition, HIV is incurable, and that is a proven fact, yet they are claiming she is cured. In medicine, something is considered an absolute truth until someone proves otherwise.
My sister was the most well-adjusted person in our entire family. Everyone else is a difficult case, myself included, but she was perfectly fine. Even after she left a note, we can't reach a consensus on what drove her to suicide, and neither can the doctors.
My Daughter is nine, and my son is five. I had posted on the bipolar thread earlier because my checkup today went smoothly and everything seemed fine.
That sense of relief was ruined by the doctor telling me today that my Daughter is depressed. Now I am faced with a choice: I can find a hundred papers arguing that depression shouldn't be diagnosed in a nine-year-old, I can seek a second opinion from a doctor who insists everything is fine, or I can hunt for the best pediatric antidepressant.
She has had issues before. I knew a diagnosis was coming eventually, but I assumed I had another three or four years, maybe more. I don't; I need to act right now.
While other parents might worry about how to discuss sex with their children, for us, that is just a light introduction to much heavier topics like depression and suicide.
Finally, my diagnosis today was 296.7 (Bipolar I), which I compared to my discharge papers from Rib, where it was listed as 295.1 (Schizophrenia, hebephrenic type). The man at Rib insisted it was psychosis rather than schizophrenia, but the code says otherwise. Personally, I couldn't care less whether it's 295 or 296; my focus is on my children and what to expect from them. I know now that I should prepare for severe struggles, and anything less than that will be a profound relief.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading online lately. Honestly, though? It all feels a bit scattered to me. Just a whole lot of guesswork. One study says this, another study claims that—the truth is, nobody seems to have a definitive answer on any of it. But, from what I can gather... it appears a person is born with certain genetic markers in the brain that might be activated, or they might stay dormant. There are so many variables involved: lifestyle choices, alcohol consumption, drug use, and even psychological trauma. It can be passed down from grandparents to grandchildren, though that isn't a guarantee. Sometimes, you won't see the illness manifest in the first generation, yet it suddenly surfaces in the second. It’s unpredictable. A brother might develop it while his sister remains perfectly healthy, or vice versa. Even with identical twins, one could be affected while the other isn't. There is also the matter of adoption. Children adopted and raised away from biological parents who suffered from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder can still potentially develop these conditions within their foster environments. These two specific illnesses are very closely linked.
I recently stumbled upon a fascinating article regarding a massive longitudinal study conducted by a group of researchers over in Sweden. They tracked every single individual diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder across the country from 1973 all the way through 2003, cross-referencing that data with familial relationships among those affected. The findings are quite striking: children who have a parent living with schizophrenia face a 9.9% higher probability of developing the condition themselves. Furthermore, they carry a 5.2% increased risk of bipolar disorder compared to children whose parents were unaffected. Because of this deep connection, the researchers are arguing that we really ought to be studying both disorders in parallel rather than treating them as separate silos, as they seem to be fundamentally intertwined.
A person whose sibling has one of those two psychiatric conditions also faces an increased risk of developing both disorders themselves.
My son is still far too young for me to know anything for certain. All I can do is wait. But, of course, I worry, because the possibility is there.
So, I’ve come to the conclusion that in my mother-in-law's case—meaning her specific illness—multiple factors are at play. For starters, she had difficulties growing up and attended special education schools. She also survived meningitis as a child and dealt with epilepsy, which might have caused some minor brain damage. On top of that, she suffered a massive psychological trauma at age eight when her sister passed away. So, all of that combined likely played a huge role in triggering the gene she carried, which she inherited from her own mother.
It is possible that my husband (her son) also carries the gene, but perhaps it didn't manifest, or maybe his generation simply skipped over it. I don't know; I can only speculate and assume... the brain is such a complicated organ.
What truly keeps me up at night is my child. As for him, right now, I can't say anything about him other than that he is a happy, lively little boy. What worries me is an incident that happened last year in July. One morning, out of nowhere, he just collapsed, and we couldn't get him to wake up. He was only 10 months old then. Naturally, we rushed him to the hospital in a total panic. That same state recurred the second day while we were in the hospital. The doctors suspected a cerebral seizure (there wasn't any muscle twitching or oxygen loss, he was just unconscious). They also considered narcolepsy, but they ruled that out since his sleep patterns were perfectly normal and regular. They even looked into meningitis. We went through every test imaginable: brain CT scans, EEGs (four or five times), a lumbar puncture, and an echocardiogram. However, not a single result pointed toward any diagnosis. It has been eight months since then, and it hasn't happened again. But given the family medical history—specifically the fact that his grandmother survived epilepsy and meningitis and suffers from schizophrenia—it has sparked doubt and anxiety in me, my husband, and the doctors. In nine months, we are headed for an MRI, so we should finally know more. We are just praying for a clean scan.
Both you and I can only hope that our children stay healthy. There isn't much we can do to influence it. Regarding your daughter, my humble opinion is that you should seek a second opinion and take her to another doctor just to see what they think. You should consult with several specialists and perhaps even build connections if necessary. I sincerely hope and believe that a girl her age isn't suffering from depression. I am so incredibly sorry about your sister. I honestly don't know what to say to all of this; I'm at a loss for words...😢 What you need to do now is watch your children as closely as you possibly can and monitor everything they do; if something does happen, you have to react immediately.
Let's just hope they discover something new and that we end up knowing much more than we do now. If nothing else, at least for now, we can remain vigilant and stay informed about it all.
It doesn't really matter if it's F20, F23, F25... and so on. It's all closely linked and similar. Every one of these illnesses is difficult, both for the patient and for the family. That's why it's vital that if it is present, it's caught early so you can respond. That way, one can lead as normal a
life as possible. Also, something that really needs work is the education and support provided to families of those affected, because not everyone has access to the internet and not everyone knows how to handle this kind of "pressure." My husband and I will likely have to visit a psychiatrist or psychologist ourselves eventually, because unfortunately, there isn't anyone else to turn to for help and support. We live in a country where people with mental illnesses are exposed to stigma and prejudice from others, and that is precisely why I fear most for my son; no two people are the same, and none of us handle obstacles and judgments in the same way.
