subject: Interview with eminent Psychiatrist Dr. Vahia [print this page] Yes, mental illnesses do tend to run in the families, it appears that it is not the illness but it is the vulnerability to the illness that is organically transmitted. It is the seed and soil' mechanism, if it were a purely genetic transmission then everyone in the family would have it but it doesn't happen. The family history makes the individual prone to certain illness. For example Huntington disease is more robust genetic transmission, than say depression.
