The genetic "light switch" kind of blew my mind this week. I have always been interested in genetics and psychology but didn't necessarily make the connection. Going through a divorce, for example, could flip the switch for someone with a predisposition to depression. The same situation for another may illicit a calm reaction if they were genetically set up for stoicism.
Depression and anxiety run rampant on both sides of my family. In fact my great-great grandmother had a "nervous condition" and rarely left the house. This was before society knew much about depression and anxiety. Because of this genetic predisposition I have struggled with chronic depression since I was 12 after my parents' divorce.
My youngest brother and I are tender-hearted. Highly emotional experiences, like divorce or death of a loved one, send us into a tail-spin of tears and therapeutic screaming. :) Our middle brother wouldn't have the same reaction. He would approach the situation analytically and seemingly shake it off. There are definitely times I wish I was able to reel it in and accept what is happening like he does.
Can you have both? Can someone switch off tender-heartedness and flip on stoic reactions? Can we just install a dimmer switch? I would really love to have a dimmer switch...
This idea of a "genetic light switch" is very fascinating to me as well. It is amazing that certain triggers can turn a gene on or off in one person that has a predisposition for that trait and the same trigger will not affect someone if they don't have that certain predisposition in their DNA. I can't answer your questions about how the "switch" works but you made me think. For instance, is depression just a matter of being flipped on or are there people out there that have no genetic code for depression and have no chance of suffering from it? ...And yes a dimmer switch would be nice:)
ReplyDeleteThe genetic light switch is also super interesting to me. I find it odd that an event can trigger a gene to take hold such as depression. It just seems crazy that we could have these genes lurking around waiting to make our lives more difficult! I have the opposite with all my siblings. I have a very different response to stressful situations than they do. I do have a similar response to my mother though.
ReplyDeleteA dimmer switch to our genes would be a GREAT idea!