By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Grandma’s DNA may be affecting you.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

What happened to grandma is affecting your life today.

Not just grandma but great-grandma has an effect on your feelings, even if you never met them, or so we are told. The more we learn about genetics and environment the more complicated it all gets.

We used to think that genes were genes and experiences; well that was what happened to you.  There has been a lot of research on which causes what. Do genes cause addiction and mental illness or do experiences sometimes described as the environment?

We have started to think that genes and experiences are both factors, risk factors for developing an addiction or mental illness. A risk factor does not mean you get the disorder, but it increases your susceptibility. We thought that genes and experiences were separate things.

What if grandma’s experiences became part of her genes?

For a long time, we thought that was not possible, now there is evidence that this may be what has and is happening.

Genes were seen as the blueprint for the way your body and your nervous system would develop. There might be variations, pigmentation for instance; one color was dominant and the other recessive so you get one-half of your genetic material from each parent. Two dominant genes or one dominant and one recessive and you still look like you have the dominant color. Two recessives and you win the different color prize. (In Humans most colors, eyes, hair etc. are the result of multiple genes so it is also more complicated than just dominant and recessive.)

We know environment can affect genes. No matter what your genes say if your grandmother grew up in a time of famine her growth was stunted. We see this in recent immigrants here in the U. S. Grandma is short but her children get more food both before and after birth and they are taller.

So after two or three generations, this family should all be reaching full height. Why then does succeeding generations keep getting taller?

Could grandma’s experience of living through starvation also alter her genes so that for a number of generations her children grow up shorter? Eventually, as time progresses that gene could change back to the full stature that was a potential in the genes but eventually that should stop.

That may not be what is happening genetically.

We were looking at genes as if they were blueprints. Not enough lumber and the house gets built smaller but the blueprints still call for a full-size house. Bringing in more lumber and the next house should match the blueprint. But what if that lack of lumber resulted in a change in the blueprint?

A new field of research, one name for this is Epigenetics, looks at how the way a gene gets expressed, the house is built, in my example, based on the experiences of the parents.

Epigenetics tells us that genes are not constant. They can turn on and off.  So that gene for black hair, that shuts off at some point and the gene begins to produce gray or even white hair. Same person, same genetics, but different hair color.

Research in mice, this is just  beginning to be replicated in human studies, found that in addition to genes and DNA there are other chemicals that can hook onto the gene and then when that gene gets reproduced the add-on gets copied also.

One of these add-ons is a methyl group. So if grandma was traumatized, raped or lived through a violent war. Her DNA could have picked up some extra molecules that shut off those outgoing genes. The result would be that as a result of grandma’s experiences your DNA is changed.

Remember that methyl stuck on is not adding to or changing your DNA, it is preventing some of that DNA from expressing itself. Depending on which part of your DNA it is stuck to, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Say your great-grandmother dies when your grandmother was very young. Great-grandfather tried but he was just not able to be affectionate the way great-grandmother would have been. The result is grandma had trouble feeling affection towards your mother.  You mother with a non-affectionate mother would find it hard to show a lot of affection to you.

Some women report that they have difficulty feeling love or nurturing towards their children. Yes they could have learned this but even when they were adopted by a loving adoptive mom these women may as a result of their extra methyl group hooked onto their DNA find it hard to nurture their children.

Now if this concept holds up through more research this may explain how ancestor’s experiences have altered the way our DNA develops and the resulting impact on our mental and emotional health.

My takeaway from this is that while this may explain some things about why we are the way we are this also means that if we learn new things if we have positive experiences our children and grandchildren can be affected by their genes in a very different way. This suggests to me that we need to spend a lot more time on treatment for depressed or anxious children before they have children of their own if we want to have an impact on mental health.

There is a lot of research going on now on mutations in genes. There are a lot more mutations going on than previously thought. But even if a particular mutation increases the risk of a mental illness, what if some early life experiences could counteract that gene and produce a different emotional result?

Let’s hope that it will be possible to help more people as time goes along. For more on this subject check out the article in Discovery Magazine for May 13, 2013, titled “Grandmas Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes. 

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Youth mental health.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Have you been putting off getting help for an emotional problem?

Some problems go away on their own if you just let them be others do not. Mental illness or emotional issues are not problems that benefit from delaying treatment. The majority of mental illnesses begin much earlier than we thought. Half of all those who get diagnosed with a mental illness have those symptoms by age fourteen.

Three out of four people who will develop a mental or emotional illness will have symptoms by age 24.

As early as the end of the third grade, eight years of age, we can already identify students who are at high risk for mental illnesses, emotional problems, and a future of substance abuse, dropping out of school and ending up in jails and prisons.

The conventional wisdom has been that you should not give in to an emotional problem.  The truth is that walking around on a broken leg makes the damage worse. The earlier that cancer is detected and treated the better the prognosis.

Early detection and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavior problems results in a reduction in illness severity and saves lives and futures.

A whole lot of mental and emotional disorders turn up in a severe enough condition to get diagnosed way earlier than we used to think. The myth of childhood being all happy times has not proved to be true for a lot of children.

That does not mean that parents caused all these early-onset mental or emotional problems. We are still a long way away from knowing precisely why one person gets an illness and another does not. Current theories tell us that most of this is the result of the interaction of risk factors and environmental factors. Every time a cell divides there is a risk of mutation. Genetics play a role. So too does early experiences and learning. Trauma can rewire the brain.

Whatever the cause, early identification and treatment is superior to the wait and see attitude.

So what disorders are most likely to show up and at what ages?

These are lifespan issues. Preschool children get seen by medical doctors, primarily for developmental issues. Failure to eat or eliminate as others or walking and talking issues get recognized early on.

By age 6 anxiety symptoms are noticeable. Some children outgrow the shyness; some get more withdrawn as they age. Hoping they will grow out of anxiety is a risky approach.

At age 11, Behavior disorders, acting out, disruptive behavior, and ADHD start getting diagnosed.

Beginning in the teen years, about age 13, mood disorders become more recognizable. Some of the children who were being given behavioral diagnosis get their code change to a mood issue as the symptoms of depression or Bipolar disorder become clearer.

Some small number of children will get their diagnosis changed from Depression to Bipolar once they have the first manic or hypomanic episode. No mania or near mania and they should not be getting labeled bipolar no matter how moody they are. Reduced need for sleep and pressured driven behaviors also point in the direction of bipolar disorders.

The number of people diagnosed with a mood disorders increases as people get older. The number of Anxiety disorders stays relatively constant regardless of the age of the person.  Exceptions to this are the increase in stress-related diagnoses as a group ages.

The younger someone is when they first develop a mental illness the more severe it is likely to be, especially if their problem goes untreated.

The same mechanism applies to learning disabilities. If they can’t read at grade level in third grade the child will continue to fall farther and farther behind until one day they give up and discontinue their education.

Anxious children give up trying new things and retreat into more and more isolation. People with depression are likely to stop trying.

Having an early onset of an emotional problem also sets up a high risk of trying drugs and alcohol as ways to cope. The earlier someone starts abusing substances the more likely they are to develop a substance use disorder.

Identification and treatment of mental health problems in young people have been woefully inadequate. The average person with a serious mental illness has the illness ten years from the onset until they arrive at treatment. Many do not get treatment until they end up in jails, prisons, or other institutions.

The cost of undiagnosed and untreated mental and emotional disorders does not solely fall on the person with the mental illness.

The mentally ill have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment.

They are more likely to be arrested. They have unstable housing and frequent changes of address. Having a mental health diagnosis is associated with poorer physical health and a shortened lifespan. This trend becomes worse the longer the delay between the onset of the disorder and the treatment.

The mentally ill also have more emergency room visits.

All these costs impact the person with the mental illness, their friends, family, and society in general.

Whether we like it or not the cost of every person with an untreated mental illness is paid for by the portion of society who is not having an illness in that particular year.

Early identification and treatment of mental and emotional disorders result in a reduced amount of suffering and countless benefits to the mentally ill, their families, and society.

If you or someone you know seem to be having emotional or mental problems seek out help as soon as possible.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel