# Genetics



## gill (Jul 1, 2010)

You have all these different things people feel triggered DP. The only common link I can think of would be some genetic vulnerability which is needed to cause DP. Okay, that's my research paper for this month...


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## Brando2600 (Apr 22, 2010)

For the record, Anxiety isn't genetic.


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## Pablo (Sep 1, 2005)

Most of the research I have seen suggests that you need negative environmental factors to trigger the vulnerable gene. The Human Genome project have been trying to find genes for mental health issues for some time now but in their research they found that people with similar genetic makeups and problem genes in different countries around the world wouldn't get the same mental health problems, so it suggests that the environment is crucial in deciding which of your genes bloom and which remain dormant. So it is the combination of genetic vulnerability and environment which seems to determine the outcome.


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## gill (Jul 1, 2010)

Pablo said:


> So it is the combination of genetic vulnerability and environment which seems to determine the outcome.


Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant, didn't really explain too well.

[quote[For the record, Anxiety isn't genetic.[/quote]

Maybe not, but look at all the people with anxiety who don't have dp you know. So what is the missing piece we all have that makes these things like anxiety ,drugs , trauma or what not bring on dp? Only thing I can think of is genetics.

Not that it seems to matter much, some food for thought I guess....


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2011)

Brando2600 said:


> For the record, Anxiety isn't genetic.


Brando, I don't know how you can say that with such confidence. As they say, the brain is so complex we don't KNOW all of these answers, but it is clear that many mental illnesses run in families which would imply a genetic PREDISPOSITION at minimum. And there is the endless debate re: Nature/Nurture.

There is a clear genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, I posted an article about that somewhere. Bipolar, depression, etc. run in families.

I have anxiety, chronic DPD, and depression. My family is FULL of mental illness. My father had OCD, anxiety, and Lord knows what else. My mother was rageful, and now and again seemed to have brief psychotic episodes.

I KNOW I was born overly sensitive. I *can't* recall when I wasn't anxious and had *early DP experiences, age 4/5* that later became chronic.
There are individuals here who mention they have siblings and parents w/DP/DR, sometimes they have learned about it later in life.

Someone posted an amazing fact I didn't initially believe:
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*No blind schizophrenics: Are NMDA-receptor dynamics involved?* <----- that is individuals blind from birth
_*Glenn S. Sanders a1, Steven M. Platek a2 and Gordon G. Gallup Jr. a1*_

a1 Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222 [email protected] www.albany.edu/~gallup www.evolutionarypsych.com
a2 Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19102 [email protected] www.pages.drexel.edu/~smp43

*Abstract*
_Numerous searches have failed to identify a single co-occurrence of total blindness and schizophrenia. Evidence that blindness causes loss of certain NMDA-receptor functions is balanced by reports of compensatory gains. Connections between visual and anterior cingulate NMDA-receptor systems may help to explain how blindness could protect against schizophrenia._

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*Where are you getting that information from? -- Curious.*
Firstly, anxiety is "hard wired" into all of us -- genetically. It is "hard wired" in animals. It is necessary for survival. If you are prey and don't run from a predator, you're dead. All people experience anxiety. It is when it becomes disruptive to life acitivies it is a problem. Also, many people experience brief DP/DR episodes, and deja-vu. For some reason that is part of all of us as humans.

There have been experiments with "anxious mice" -- fearful of doing tasks normal mice would undertake. A EPIGENE (something that turns a gene on or off) was discovered in said mice, and when the "switch was flipped" the mice were no longer anxious. They behaved normally, with normal anxiety.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2011)

You can also abuse an animal so much it can become incapacitated with anxiety. (Everyone knows of many animals rescued from shelters, or from dogfighting, etc. that must be put down as their fear and rage is dangerous). So something in the environment -- abuse -- can trigger a constant "fight/flight" response which can be conditioned. A good number of these animals do not recover. So in that case it would seem to be more an environmental cause.

And with an animal such as a dog, or a monkey, you aren't going to use therapy or medication to help with these things, vs. humans. You can attempt to give a dog comfort, but many must be put to sleep as they cannot change.

But there is *resilience* in people and animals as well -- we wouldn't survive without THAT. Some subjected to terrible experiences can sometimes come out strong. Resilience is another "given" some have when experiencing very negative situations. Why is it that some individuals are completely free of anxiety in re: engaging in extreme and dangerous sports that others wouldn't dare engage in.

You can see in newborn babies, hours old, different personalities.

*Nature/Nurture -- the age old debate. The million dollar question.*


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2011)

Genetic risk is implicated in schizoprhenia, bipolar, and depression. But there are also environmental factors. However if one has a mother who has schizoprhenia, one's risk of having it is significantly higher than the normal population. In my family, we have a history of depression, schizoaffective disorder, schizoprhenia, eating disorder, and anxiety.

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http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/23/news/la-heb-schizophrenia-20110223

*Schizophrenia risk is increased with a particular gene mutation*

_*February 23, 2011|By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times*_

"Schizophrenia is a severe, complicated illness. There are no obvious explanations for what causes the condition, which causes hallucinations and delusions. Genes are known to play a big role. The condition is often clustered in families.

Scientists announced a significant step in understanding the genetics of the disease this week. A large nationwide consortium of scientists led by Jonathan Sebat of UC San Diego has identified a gene mutation that is strongly linked to the disorder. Understanding the signaling pathway of this mutation creates a target for future therapies."
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So in the future, gene manipulation may be one way to improve quality of life for said individuals.


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## Svana (Apr 22, 2011)

It could just be a coincidence, but me and my mother both suffered severe depersonalisation throughout our teenage years. Your enviroment does definately seem to have an outstanding effect on the disorder, but the thing is- I honestly doubt me and my mother had a similar eviroment growing up. I think it may have a genetic effect somewhere, but only in a minor way.


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## RamonX (Feb 10, 2011)

The reason that science has such a hard time finding genes that are involved in psychiatric illnesses, is the sheer complexity of it all on the one side, and the fact that genes that make you vulnerable also usually offer an advantage. If they didn't many variations would have been erased by evolution. Creativity research has found that creative individuals usually have lower latent inhibition, which means that their brains filter out less of seemingly irrelevant stimuli and information. So instead of looking for information within the frame of the problem that has to be solved they have acces to information most people would say was irrelevant to the situation on hand. So a creative person might take à principle from cake baking, and apply it to computer programming. 
But the fact that all this extra information is coming in and has to be processed is a big burden on resources and has all kinds of implications.
People with psychiatric issues, also often have low latent inhibition. Especially in psychosis latent inhibition is very low. Drugs like cannabis and LSD also lower latent inhibition. So a little bit less of information filtering can be a good thing, as long as the person has the capacity to process it or handle it in another way. But if this latent inhibition becomes too low or the individual can't cope with it then hè or she is overwhelmed by irrelevant stimuli, which can lead to hallucinations, irritability or anxiety, depersonalization or depression depending on à myriad of other factors both genetic and environmental. Intellegence, whatever it may be exactly, seems to be an important factor in how far low latent inhibition leads to creativity, mental illness, or both.

Well this latent inhibition is just one factor that is implicated in psychiatric illness as well as in special talents. There are many more traits that also can contribute to both. And each of these traits is probably influenced by many genes and many environmental factors. 
Even in a disease like schizophrenia there are so many variations in symptoms, severity, reactions to medication that it is hardly plausible that they can be caused by à single genetic abberance.

There is probably a strong genetic basis for how prone to anxiety someone is, but environmental factors can dramatically change the influence of these genes. Often children who are very timid and anxious grow up to be extravert and adventurous.

Further I think that nature and nurture are so inextricably linked from the start that you will never be able to find out what is what.


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## Tarkovsky (Jul 20, 2011)

Brando2600 said:


> For the record, Anxiety isn't genetic.


Actually, it is.


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