A recent study has found that people who have depression, anxiety and drug or alcohol dependence in their family history are not only more prone to these conditions, they are also likely to need more treatment and they will suffer more severely. In New Zealand, a 30 year study was conducted in which 981 people were tracked from the age of 3 to 32 years. All data related to their own as well as their family members’ psychiatric condition was collected by the researchers. The study is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry and reveals that in the course of the study, four main psychiatric disorders were studied: depression, anxiety, alcohol dependence and drug dependence. While it is well-known in psychiatric circles that a positive family history does increase the likelihood of an individual

developing one of these four conditions, this particular study sought to investigate how seriously the individuals were affected by their family history, the researchers added. “Family history was associated with greater service use for all four disorders (but not significantly for anxiety disorders),” the researchers wrote. “Among those with depression, anxiety disorder, alcohol dependence and drug dependence, a family history screen may help determine whose illness will recur, whose illness will cause the greatest impairment and who will be the most likely to use treatment resources,” they wrote. “Family history may identify a subgroup in need of primary or early intervention, and for whom treatments appropriate for recurrent, highly disabling disorder may be needed.” For more information, please refer to the source article .

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Family History Connected to Depression