Question
A friend is about to get married, but suddenly learns that his girlfriend’s mother has a mental illness. Can mental illness be inherited across generations?
Answer
Extensive genetic research on schizophrenia only indicates that the occurrence of schizophrenia is related to genetics, but does not determine that schizophrenia is a genetic disease. From the family history data of schizophrenia patients, it is found that the prevalence of mental illness in the families of patients is 6.2 times higher than that of the general population. The probability of schizophrenia in children born to schizophrenic patients and healthy individuals is 16.4%, and the probability of schizophrenia in children born to both schizophrenic parents is 39.2%. From this perspective, schizophrenia indeed has a certain genetic predisposition, but not all children born to schizophrenic patients will develop schizophrenia.