instruction: hello doctor I am a 28 year old male in good health I have suffered bouts of depression for the past few years along with anxiety and ocd I am on zoloft every day and am doing well for the most part I am staying active and keeping busy the reason why I ask this is that on my mother side there are two stories of people with suspected schizophrenia my maternal grandmother mother was said to have been institutionalized for her life because of it and my maternal aunt mom sister is a paranoid schizophrenic according to my grandma does this skip generations neither of my parents or siblings has this condition what are the chances of becoming a schizophrenic do I have anything to worry about
output: hello based on the history provided I see that you do not have any first degree relatives with schizophrenia so the risk is not high this condition can run in families but the risk is more when you have first degree relatives with schizophrenia like parents siblings schizophrenia is relatively rare affecting about of the general population so anyone in the world has a in 100 chance of developing schizophrenia your risk will be the same as the general population possibly marginally higher due to extended family history you need not worry unnecessarily as the risk is not substantially higher than anybody else in the world to give you an idea about the genetic risk of schizophrenia look at these figures if there is a first degree relative with schizophrenia the risk increases to 10 if both parents have schizophrenia the risk increases to 50 if there is identical twin the risk can increase to about 50 to 65 you do not fall into these categories you may be aware that genes play a role in the etiology of schizophrenia but they alone are not responsible schizophrenia is caused by a complex interaction between genes environment and psychological factors environmental factors like illicit drug use and high stress levels play a huge role since there is a possible history of schizophrenia in the extended family it makes sense to avoid any risk factors like illicit drugs use weed cocaine etc continue an active and healthy lifestyle continue appropriate treatment for depression anxiety and ocd obsessive compulsive disorder if you have any other concerns you can contact your psychiatrist for a review I hope this helps