Thursday, December 30, 2004

The Legacy of Madness
Column in the Hartford Advocate by Lisa Lieberman on the challenges of having a parent with mental illness - "...Children of the mentally ill live with the fear that we may be genetically prone to our parents' disorders. Some play it safe, as I have done, afraid to take risks, afraid that if we let ourselves go too much we might succumb to the family curse. Others choose not to have children, worried about passing on the genes for the disease. Such fears are not unfounded. Recent studies show that close relatives of people with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or major depression are more likely to develop these diseases than the average person, but scientists haven't succeeded in isolating the genes involved in the transmission of even the most common disorders. The genetic brew is too complex, and so we're left to worry and watch ourselves for the slightest sign of our parents' illnesses. At the same time, we're afraid to acknowledge the illnesses, afraid that we'll be judged on the basis of their disorders -- as the daughter of a schizophrenic father or the son of a depressed mother. Given the stigma that still surrounds mental illness in our society, who would want to be defined in that way? ..."