The third child in my mother's immediate family (my uncle) was diagnosed with manic depression in 1969, when he was 13. however, throughout his life he also showed symptoms of schizophrenia, mainly delusions and some hallucinating. neither of my parents have either disorder, but my mother had one short depressive episode when she was in her late twenties. I was diagnosed last year with an anxiety/panic condition following one much-too-heavy dose of marijuana. one of my main fears is that what I really have is a developing onset of schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. I know that it's not probable, but it would be nice if I could permanently put that fear to rest, or at least have some real knowledge to help me sort out the issue.
Unfortunately there is no genetic testing to determine whether or not someone has or will develop mental illness. the one time incident that you describe, after a heavy dose of marijuana, is not unusual. I have never been a marijuana smoker (although I do believe it should be legalized). My reason for not smoking it is that on the two occasions (in college) when I did smoke it, I became extremely anxious and paranoid and did not like the feelings that it gave me. some people say it calms them down. Didn't work that way for me, but then I don't drink coffee either because caffeine gives me the shakes.
How does the trait for schizophrenia get passed down?
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