Talk:Demystifying Depression/The Genetic Link

Trauma may be getting mislabeled as genetics
This is basically my 2 cents worth on this subject. I am not an expert, and I cite no references (though I wish I could). I do write however as a long term sufferer of depression (8+ years). I was diagnosed as clinically depressed in 1998, but I believe that I had suffered for a long time before that. It's been a long and rocky road, and I am only now beginning to come to terms with my illness. After a lot of introspection, and even more digging around for real help and information, I'd like to contribute the following:

There is a lot of speculation, and studies rarely tend to agree, but the one thing that I find the most puzzling is this insistence that genetics is a large factor in the prevalence of depression across generations. Depression is a traumatic experience, and living with a depressed person can also lead to trauma in the sufferer's nearest family members. I was recently told by a psychologist (name intentionally withheld) who deals a lot with war veterans that trauma can take several generations to leave a family. Given the upheaval of the two great wars, and the many large conflicts and cold war since then, it is not unreasonable to believe that trauma from these terrible events is played out in the form of flashbacks, violence, and depression within families, and sometimes even years after the traumatic events took place.

I speak from personal experience here, and I am most certainly not a scholarly expert on the subject, but I would like to share a small part of my life with you in order to make my case a little clearer. I have an 8 year old son, who is normally a very happy and bright little boy, but who is able to display the most terrifying aspects of the depressive disorder. If I took him to a doctor, I'd probably be told he has attention deficit disorder, or is clinically depressed. The problem I have with this though is that I don't believe my child to be suffering from such maladies. I know my son better than any doctor ever could in a series of 15 minute visits, and experiencing depression gives me (I believe) a greater insight into the state of my son's mental health in that regard. So what is the problem? I believe it is likely that my son is simply acting out as he sees his father do. It's what he has learned from his role model, and so he shows violent tendencies, and blows small problems way out of proportion, mopes around the house, and basically doesn't know how to deal with his feelings of anger, guilt or sadness. The sad reality is that I have been traumatised, and I have unwittingly visited my trauma on my son. Left unchecked, it's likely he too will go through years of clinical depression, and is therefore something that I must learn to deal with, in order to avoid. Interestingly enough, both of my parents suffered with depression at different times in their lives. My father had an abusive father who had lived through two wars and the "great depression", while my mother suffered hers as a result of politics and stress. The thing is, I learned a lot of my behavior from both of my parents also, and looking back with an adults eyes at the child and adolescent that I was, I can see where my behavioral similarities have learned and developed.

"Depression" is a very generalised description of a range of symptoms that could have many causes, some of which might not necessarily be as a result of clinical depression. It's a convenient label for an inconvenient disease, and while I have no doubt that genetic traits could potentially see depression occur over generations, I believe very strongly that this is less likely to be the case, whereas trauma is something that occurs all too regularly, and is very easily passed on if not dealt with properly.

I believe that a major part of my recovery is to take ownership of the trauma that I have visited on others, and writing about this aspect of my illness has been of some help, and I hope you find the ideas interesting rather than simply speculative.

Thank you.

--srobins 59.167.65.161 10:05, 3 November 2006 (UTC)