Dr. Janice E. Cohen

No, at most one might call it a symptom, one which varies in type, intensity, frequency and duration for each individual and which all people experience in some manner throughout their lives. I like "The Ten Forms of Twisted Thinking" List on pages 8-11 in The Feeling Good Handbook, Revised, by David D. Burns, M.D. copyright 1990, 1999. Severe, persistent, and/or disabling negative thinking is associated with many different "illnesses." It is also associated with both developmental and acute trauma (e.g., personal loss of person(s), home, environmental, community, health or life affecting self and/or others. I have an article on my website to help understand the different types of psychotherapy and what approach might help you best in identifying a possible trigger for this change in your thinking and how to best address it.

First of all, your specific genetic predisposition for developing unipolar depression can/could only be evaluated and grossly estimated based on the details (bipolar vs. unipolar depression) and degree of genetic contribution (parent or sibling vs. grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) by the various family members you describe as "everyone." And, whether or not you ever develop any degree of clinical depression will be determined by the interaction of past, current and future environments/experiences (see last entry) and whatever genetic predisposition you may have. For the most compelling, sophisticated and robust research on the nature vs. nurture question regarding psychiatric and substance use disorders, I would refer you to the work of Kenneth S. Kendler. I am going to contact him and ask him if I may post on my website a PowerPoint he sent me on one of his award lectures. While it is very technical/academic in parts, it also presents very clear and simple findings/conclusions about what we have learned from his and others' research on this question. They include: 1) that most psychiatric disorders are heritable, 2) that the inter-relationship of genetic and environment risk factors is likely to be subtle, 3) the likely importance of genotype-environment interaction or “genetic control of sensitivity to the environment, 4) the likely importance of genotype-environment correlation (genetic control of exposure to the environment), 5) how little we know about the possible impact of historical and population differences on our estimates of the importance of genetic and environmental risk factors, 6) how little we know of the development of risk - “The Dance through time of genetic and environmental risk factors”. Taken from a table from the above mentioned lecture, which estimates percentage of genetic contribution to various psychiatric disorders compared to other physical conditions and traits, there is 20-40% heritability of Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Bulimia as well as blood pressure and personality, leaving 60-80 % to environment and experience. So rather than worry at this point, I suggest you focus on living whatever the healthiest and most rewarding life would be for you.