Is a tendency to depression inherited?
It seems there are some people whose brain chemistry is predisposed to the depressive response, and others who are at much lower risk of depression even if exposed to the same physical or psychological triggers. The genetic relations of manic-depressives are at a higher risk for unipolar depression than the population at large or their adopted/by marriage relations. There seems to be a link between high creativity and the gene for manic-depression: artists and writers often are not manic-depressive themselves, but have a family member who is. Studies of families in which members of each generation develop manic-depressive illness found that those with the illness have a somewhat different genetic make-up than those who do not get ill. However, the reverse is not true: not everybody with the genetic make-up that causes vulnerability to manic-depressive illness has the disorder. Apparently additional factors, possibly a stressful environment, are involved in its onset. Major depression a
