I would also add that with each progressive generation, any dormant genes relevant to mental illness will likely surface and be more apparent in the offspring.
I have a friend whose father often had bouts with depression and he himself suffered likewise. As for the father, well, the explanation was people got depressed and nothing was ever done about it.
As for my friend his depression would often include thoughts of suicide but with counseling and occasional medication, he was ok.
Then he had two children, a son and a daughter. Both the children were diagnosed as being bipolar and on much needed medication. The son ultimately committed suicide at the age of about 31. The daughter, who is still alive, has extreme mental problems that can only be controlled with medication. Since she is married to an individual who is also bipolar, they can not have children due extreme likelihood that their children will inherit the bad genes but only worse.
Lots of our ancestors were given a pass as being a little strange or crazy when in reality they really did suffer from some form of inherited mental illness........
Churchill had bouts of depression.
Mental illness has been around a long time.
I do agree with another poster that the lack of physical activity among children is a big problem.
My neighbor got a new dog about six years years ago. It took a few years for it to calm down.
You are actually saying that children “learn” bahaviors from their parents. which is true—unless their parents don’t parent and allow TV or others to “raise” them.
Children will normally pick up any behaviors of their parents-—depressed parents will create depressed, suicidal kids in most cases. Take the child as an infant and put them with healthy God-fearing parents, who love life, and have meaning and direction, and the children will be the same, despite parents. Genes aside-—shy monkeys raise shy monkey-—even if no such thing as a “shy” gene.
It always amazes me how people will comment on how on earth did I raise so many good, productive, great children to be responsible “good” well-liked people, devoted to raising their children. It is NOT a trick-—it is NATURAL for good parents to instill virtue and love for self, others and Life, into their children. (Today’s parents don’t bother to instill any type of virtue-—they allow children to learn to be controlled by environment which destroys virtue formation and autonomy: the I can conquer the world outlook-—Life is Fun-—Life is Good—God and His Creation is Good.
It is worldview. Christian v. all other irrational faiths/atheism/nihilism /materialism, etc. No meaning if no God. Dostoevsky knew that and more.
The little secret has been KNOWN since Aristotle when he wrote the Nicomachean Ethics-—simply Common Sense. Virtue comes from INNER CONTROL of emotions-—not environmental control. We have been intentionally (and unintentionally) destroying virtue formation in our children by hyper-sexualization and dumping 10 times the amt. of toxins into their little bodies to overload the system, and by putting them into systems which destroy self-initiative and love for “Knowing” by
literally wasting their time with garbage and mush so they couldn’t master real life mastery/skills. They need to learn how to control inner emotions by interactions with real human beings and manipulation of worthwhile things (life skills) in an parent-CONTROLLED environment which instills self-worth, identity, Traditions, meaning, and moral direction.
Now, can “good” people raise evil kids-—yes-—but only if they are ignorant and allow outside, evil forces to control the worldview of their children or trust untrustworthy people who abuse that child. Child trauma and drugs can destroy the emotional health of any child.