Is it ethical to have children if I have mental illness?

[GeneralFap]

I have drepession and social anxiety in my family. My mom has it, and so does my grandmother and great grandmother. I dont think it would be right do have a child knowing that I would pass on those shitty genes. I would never want to have a child if i knew they will have a very painful life frought with mental illness. If I have a girl then she'll have it less hard because shes a woman, so most people wont judge her for being weak, and she could find a man to take care of her. But if the child is a boy, hes pretty much screwed. Makes you wonder why anxiety/depression is passed on more by mothers, its because men with mental illness are way less likely to reproduce in the first place!

 

[Hue]

GeneralFap,

Personally, I would say yes.

Mental illness has a massive stigma to it, so much so that those that have it sometimes show self-hate of their own realities and existence.
That doesn't mean that individuals born with such a state-of-living shouldn't be allowed the joy of having children. Fuck that.

I believe what you're considering is the likelihood that your children's "depression genes" would become activated were they born. If this consideration causes you struggle, I'm sorry to hear that.

I'm a huge believer that humans are dynamic beings in that there is always a huge capacity for change, predisposition to mental illness or not. Neuroplasticity is a huge component behind this belief of mine.

Also, just because the gene exists in your family, doesn't mean your kids WILL have the given mental illness. It's a statistical chance.

Number one question I would ask is, are you thinking about having kids in the near future? If not, why worry about that now?


Hueman

 

[Inbocca]

Look at how many people with mental illnesses on this website have accomplished way more than they ever thought they could. Even outside of it, there are people with Down syndrome starting their own businesses, people with autism teaching self-help courses, and so many people with depression making a huge impact on the world. A lot of times, it's even because they're depressed that they make an impact. The world is a sad place and no one is going to make an effort to change that unless they agree that it's sad in the first place.

If you do have kids, there's a good chance they could end up depressed even without a genetic disposition - I think most of the recent generation is depressed in some regard. The best thing you can do for them is let them know that it doesn't define them unless they decide it does, and introduce them to a healthy, positive mindset as early as possible.

 

[Chase]

GeneralFap-

Well, some food for thought: if you are a depressed/anxious individual, odds are you're also intelligent and creative.

Knowing this, if you have three children, and one of them becomes a master painter who slips between mania and depression, a second flirts with depression but beats it early on and goes on to live a joyful life and build a business that ends world hunger, and the third sinks into despair and kills himself, would the ethical thing to have been to not have created those children, or to have created them?

Your answer to that question is your answer to question of the ethics of producing children as an individual with family history of depression/anxiety.

Chase

 

[Bboy100]

Anxiety/Depression are basically the common cold of the mental illness world. Most people suffer through some version of them at some point in their lives. They are definitely not a reason to not have children.

 

[Ree]

GeneralFap-

Well, some food for thought: if you are a depressed/anxious individual, odds are you're also intelligent and creative.

Knowing this, if you have three children, and one of them becomes a master painter who slips between mania and depression, a second flirts with depression but beats it early on and goes on to live a joyful life and build a business that ends world hunger, and the third sinks into despair and kills himself, would the ethical thing to have been to not have created those children, or to have created them?

Your answer to that question is your answer to question of the ethics of producing children as an individual with family history of depression/anxiety.

Chase

damn....

total complete awesomeness