Nature and nurture

Stress can cause psychiatric disorders later in life, they think.

"'Previous studies have shown that kids from at-risk families are at higher risk of having a psychiatric disorder in their lifetime,' says Ellenbogen. 'We know that they're not just inheriting these traits but they are also being raised in environment that is stressful, chaotic and lacking in structure.'"

So is it nature, or nurture, or both? Genes, as we've seen, play a big part in whether or not you have a tendency towards psychiatric disorders, but living in stress seems to be the trigger that starts the whole process. I don't know about you, but I had enough stress in my life to set off whatever genetic issues I may have had.

So can you provide a supportive, stress-free environment for your kids? No. At least, I can't think of any way to do it. Life is stress. There's no escaping the fact that life is hard, even when you have the "perfect" family, there's always something else going on out there. Kids get bullied, some are just hard-wired for stress anyway. So can you avoid getting an illness if you're genetically predisposed? It sure doesn't sound like it.