Posted by Racer on September 26, 2005, at 1:46:53
In reply to Re: family history???, posted by Glydin on September 25, 2005, at 22:43:59
That's my only explanation...
How my parents could ever have mated is beyond me -- mental illness of varying kinds on both sides.
Mother's family -- plain vanilla depression and anxiety disorders. At least they were easy to understand, once you got that part straight.
Father? Whoohee! I don't know what diagnoses he'd have had, but there would have been many of them. And severe, too. Let's just say that he came by them honestly.
Me? I have depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. But you know what? While the genetics are there, I also know that there are things I can do to help myself, so I am doing them. That's the best I can do, and it's the same as if I had any other sort of genetic or congenital sickness. (I do, actually, and it's the same thing: do what I can to minimize damage, and work out how to live my life with this as part of the reality. Same with depression, really.)
I'm too tired to make sense. Sorry. But I do believe that the fact that we have a genetic predisposition doesn't have to mean the end of any sort of hope. Well, realistic hope -- I keep hoping my legs will straighten, but not in this lifetime. Once we know we have this predisposition, we have to learn to protect ourselves emotionally, the same way I have to remember to protect my joints. So, I don't run for busses, and I try to calm myself before I go into panic mode. {shrug} Guess that's all we can do, besides flossing daily and wearing sunscreen.
Man, posting while impaired ain't such a great idea, huh? I'm gonna go sleepy-bye-bye now.
poster:Racer
thread:559625
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050921/msgs/559687.html