OCD and Genetics

I think that I have inherited OCD from my dad.

He has checking and repeating rituals.

Everything has to be perfect for him.

No mistake can be made in front of him.

Since I grew up in an environment with my dad, trying to control everything, I ended up with OCD which is basically having things in control.

I am trying to get control of the situation, by doing checking and repetition rituals.

I am making sure that no mistakes are made about anything.

I wanted to share some insight into this by what I found while reading a book.

The bibliography appears below.

Other patients also reflect on their childhoods and their genetic legacies in attempting to find answers to why they developed OCD. Certainly, genetics does seem to play a role. Again and again, patients have told me of mothers or sisters or grandparents who certainly had OCD tendencies long before the disease was given a label. Formal studies show the same thing: OCD tends to run in families. Frequently, parents of people with OCD were rigid and inflexible and became very uncomfortable if things weren’t done in a certain way.

Schwartz, Jeffrey M.. Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior . HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

[Greekdude]

there is very countroversy around this issue .

I asked my therapist and he told me its all about ones character and if he/she has some characteristics then he might develop OCD.

From youtube videos I have found that it is serotonin imbalance but reading <<getting over ocd >> (Jonathan Ambramowitz) , he says that its not about serotonin imbalance and it is not an OCD gene . It is anxiety proneness genes likely interact with other factors to cause OCD.(learning and enviromental factors) and he says that having ocd is not your or anyones else's fault.

Howerver I feel the same as you, my father wants to control everything , he is worried about silly things like if I closed the car ,If I lost the keys of the car and things like that, and in general he is checking many things like the receipt of the supermaket bill, so maybe I have OCD because my father .

[Hidden in reply to Greekdude]

Psychiatrists do view OCD is due to a chemical imbalance known as serotonin.

Thus, I am on Zoloft, an anti-depressant, which is given for serotonin imbalance.

If I inherited OCD from my dad, it is not really his fault.

It just happens to be that I got his genes.

We are not in control of OCD.

Some therapists even think it is due to a trigger of a traumatic event, which starts the symptoms of OCD.

Basically, it is a mixture of so many factors that can cause OCD.

But it is hard to know for sure, since everybody's brain reacts differently to situations in life.

[Greekdude in reply to Hidden]

Jonathan Ambramowitz in his book says that scientific research has shown that the theory about serotonin imbalance is wrong and it is the other stuff that you mentioned above => traumatic event ,anxiety genes and other factors .

[mjcll41]

My 2 cents (I have a Master's in Counseling, and I have seen OCD inherited from me to my son) are that it is a mix of "nature" AND "nurture". My father, my son, and myself, were born with a genetic predisposition for OCD. Theoretically, if my son had been reared by someone who does not have OCD, he may not have developed it. In the case of my father, he actually taught me his behaviors on purpose (hand washing, etc. Things that make sense but going overboard with the amount of time spent doing them). I had an interesting behavior in which I thought touching things added weight to me, and therefore if I touched something with a part of my body (accidentally or otherwise), I had to touch the same thing in the same place with the same part of my body on the other side (left hand, right hand, etc.) I didn't tell anyone about this until my son started doing the exact same thing.

[Gimi44]

We'll, my OCD fellows explained very well. And it's true in my case. My father had depression and possibly OCD and I had a trigger(my parents diying of cancer very young and at the same time) that develop the symptoms. But I made my mind long time ago not worrying about the cause but focus on the solution. In my case meds, ERP,ACT and hope. Let's do it!💪

[cambridgeborn]

My father has been deceased for many years, but I recognize that he must have suffered from OCD as well; he was very rigid and inflexible with his children. He seemed to need to push us away from any affection. I may conjecture that he had paedophile OCD because he was terrified of his little daughters; he was also terrified of homosexuals. He must have suffered terribly. But, of course, he lived in a era when there was no understanding of such things. I may have inherited his HOCD. I now fear for my adult son. I don't know how to open up a conversation about the genetic component of OCD. My family is not receptive to wanting to know anything about my OCD. They think I am being dramatic and making it all up. Thank goodness there is a community of people online who understand, support and educate about this affliction. It is a game changer.

[Greekdude in reply to cambridgeborn]

only my mother understands the problems that I have . My brother makes fun of me and he calls me <<OCD>> ......

This community is amazing , I learned a lot of things from other sufferers and I feel more comfortable with myself.

[Hidden in reply to Greekdude]

My mom passed away 3 years ago.

She did not understand the OCD illness, but she gave me lots of support.

She always prayed for me that I get better.

I am glad that your mom gives you support.

I am sorry to hear that your brother does not understand your OCD problem.

It must be difficult for you.

Sadly, in my family, besides my mom, I do not have any support of anyone for OCD.

They think that it is my fault that I have OCD.

It just very hurtful and painful.

I think this is a helpful OCD support network, where we can share our similar experiences together in life.

Take Care.

[Greekdude]

I think that nowadays in the USA ,kids learn from an early age about mental illnesses .

Is that true?

[Hidden]

I think it depends upon how parents view mental illness.

Children are like sponges, they absorb what they observe.

If parents are open minded to the knowledge and acceptance of it, then they learn from them.

Nowadays, in the news, sadly, mostly incidents which occur, are due to people have a combination of mental illness and other factors.

I feel that it is important that kids are taught to be compassionate about others who are dealing with any type of mental illness.

If parents do not believe in mental illness, and are not open to become educated, thus kids learn this behavior, and are left uneducated about it.

Later, in life these kids have no compassion for others, who are suffering from any mental illness in the world.

Kids have to be taught that just as people suffer from physical illness, which can be seen,

similarly, people also suffer from mental illness, which is not seen, but it suffering inside the brain.

I think my opinions on this issue is for kids living in USA or anywhere else in the world.