Two Questions on Depression

1. Is any part of manic depression hereditary?

2. Is it possible to have a mild form of this kind of disorder?

It could be, though I do not know if they have identified a genetic component, and yes, there are ranges in experience. Some people do have milder cases than others.

edited 13th May '11 8:10:38 PM by blueharp

I believe so, and it should be easy enough to look up (hey) - and yes, there's a mild form of bipolar disorder called "cyclothymia". But do you mean depression, or bipolar disorder? They're distinct.

edited 13th May '11 8:12:20 PM by Tzetze

I think depression is also hereditary in the sense that people who have it or have had it but got better are prone to periods of melancholy or possibly other emotions that display signs of depression. They might have a pessimistic, cynical view of life or display signs of such before they get over it and move on again (which is a skill that you pretty much don't have at all if you're depressed).

That is not to say that they're necessarily depressed, at least in the case of people who overcame the disease. Just that certain symptoms might re-surface from time to time, though usually nowhere near as hard as they hit when you have the disease.

When you're around people who have symptoms of depression, you're more likely to become depressed - at least if you don't have the mental tools to handle stress and the difficult parts of life, which is the case with most children and teenagers.

So if there are depressed people in your family, the disease is hereditary in the sense that you're more likely to become depressed, too, though there may be no biological reason.

Then again, it's possible that there actually are genes that cause it (or prevent it but become inactive due to some circumstances in some families.)

It's possible to have characteristics that represent symptoms of depression - you might be pessimistic or passive or you might sometimes feel that simple tasks or problems are too much to carry out or overcome.

I certainly get all of those from time to time, though I was cured of my depression years ago. It's always temporary, and sometimes it really is a part of who I am - I sometimes take things very seriously and then I feel down for a while, but the key point is that I do snap out of it sooner rather than later.

If you're like that - if you sometimes have emotions that are symptoms of depression - it's possible that you have a milder case, or that it's just that you're particularily stressed out or that there are other circumstances that are making you vulnerable.

Vulnerability is not a bad thing, and when I get melancholy, I tend to dwell on it a bit on purpose - listening to sad songs or wathing tearjerking movies and stuff like that - to process the emotion and let loose some pent up emotion that accumulates in day to day life. Nothing serious, but you still have to dispose of it somehow. But don't dwell on it for too long - an hour or three at most, so don't ruin your whole day.

If you're vulnerable in the sense that you might get hurt from your thoughts and emotions, it's possible that you need help in processing those emotions and pulling yourself together after you've released some of your tension. If you're able to do all this by yourself, then you're not depressed.

1. I'm not a scientist, but I'd be amazed if there wasn't some genetic element to these things. 2. Yes, as mentioned above.

If there's personal concern behind the questions I'd add - biology isn't destiny, at least not for complex things like this. You might be more prone to bipolar disorder if relatives have it, but it's not inevitable you'll develop it. If you think you might be, see a doctor - please, don't self-diagnose.

Oh, just to clarify: I don't have bipolar; I had clinical depression.

1. Is any part of manic depression hereditary?

Yes, it's strongly hereditary. Though not in a strict dominant-recessive fashion, since there are many different genes involved. Environmental triggers may cause the first episode, but only in people with the right genes. Later episodes seem to be biologically based.

Unipolar depression is a bit different. There seems to be two subtypes - a genetic type that is closely related to bipolar/manic depression, and an environmental type strongly linked with anxiety disorders such as PTSD.

2. Is it possible to have a mild form of this kind of disorder?

Yes, cyclothymia and bipolar II. Cyclothymia is rapid cycling between hypomanic (an actually beneficial 'up' state associated with high productivity) and mild depression (can still function but can't stop feeling down). Bipolar II is when the person has full-blown major depressive states (so depressed you can't get out of bed sort of thing) but only has hypomania rather than mania.

Just some piece of information: Depression is heritable via epigenetics.

Actually, now that I think of it, I remember seeing a headline some time ago about a research of the connection between hereditary traits that are almost unique to Finns and their connection to the unusually high suicide rate that Finland has; and IIRC, there actually was a connection, so Finns seem to have inherited a tendency to get depression easily from our ancestors.

(Off-topic but I feel like telling you this: One interesting feature of Finland is that the people who live in Western Finland - most of whom have Swedish ancestry, either exclusively or mixed to that of the people whom they replaced, while the people of Eastern Finland have some Russian ancestry in some families but are for the most part descended almost exclusively from the people who the Swedes eventually conquered; as a result, people in Western Finland are more closely related (on the genetic level) to Italians than they are to people in Eastern Finland.)

edited 14th May '11 11:38:24 AM by BestOf