Can depression be genetic?

Hello Anonymous,

Thank you for your question.

For years, scientists have known that some major mental health conditions run in families. This is especially true for bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia.

As reported on the Harvard Health Blog, "A ground-breaking new study has identified a handful of genes that are shared by people with these disorders."

Back in 2007, researchers from 19 countries formed the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Since then, the group has analyzed DNA from 33,000 people with major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and another 28,000 without one of these disorders. In the group with mental illness, four regions of the genetic code carried the same variations.

Anonymous, if you would like to read the entire article, "Shared genes link depression, schizophrenia, and three other mental illnesses" here is the link:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/shared-genes-link-depression-schizoph...

Regards,
Maryann