Dr. Erica Komisar

But if parents are insensitive about the birth of a second child and the feelings that your first child may have, that can cause stress. Moving can cause stress. Illness or mental illness in a parent can cause stress. Alcoholism, any kind of addiction can cause stress.

But if parents are insensitive about the birth of a second child and the feelings that your first child may have, that can cause stress. Moving can cause stress. Illness or mental illness in a parent can cause stress. Alcoholism, any kind of addiction can cause stress.

A grandparent or uncle or aunt or even a parent getting sick and dying can cause – I mean, there are so many things that can cause stress. But the point is that stress can be regulated. But it can only be regulated if parents are introspective and self-aware and willing to look at their part in it. If parents hand a child over to a psychiatrist and say, fix my child –

A grandparent or uncle or aunt or even a parent getting sick and dying can cause – I mean, there are so many things that can cause stress. But the point is that stress can be regulated. But it can only be regulated if parents are introspective and self-aware and willing to look at their part in it. If parents hand a child over to a psychiatrist and say, fix my child –

Of course, psychiatrists will cooperate with you and silence your child's pain. But is that really what you want to be doing? Because in the end, you're just putting your finger in a dike. You're putting your finger in a dam. And eventually that dam is going to burst.

Of course, psychiatrists will cooperate with you and silence your child's pain. But is that really what you want to be doing? Because in the end, you're just putting your finger in a dike. You're putting your finger in a dam. And eventually that dam is going to burst.

Let me tell you a different study that will help you to understand that study, which is that we know that there is no genetic precursor to mental illness. There is no genetic precursor to ADHD. There is no genetic precursor to depression and no genetic precursor to anxiety.

Let me tell you a different study that will help you to understand that study, which is that we know that there is no genetic precursor to mental illness. There is no genetic precursor to ADHD. There is no genetic precursor to depression and no genetic precursor to anxiety.

Meaning there's no genetic connection. You don't get it in your genes. If your father or your mother were depressed, you get it by something called the inheritance of acquired characteristics. If you're raised by a depressed parent, you're more likely to become depressed. It's the nature-nurture argument.

Meaning there's no genetic connection. You don't get it in your genes. If your father or your mother were depressed, you get it by something called the inheritance of acquired characteristics. If you're raised by a depressed parent, you're more likely to become depressed. It's the nature-nurture argument.

Okay, but what they did find... Now, schizophrenia has a genetic connection, bipolar disorder. Those have genetic, but the rest do not. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, no genetics. Okay. What they did find is a genetic tie to something called the sensitivity gene. It's a short allele on the serotonin receptor. And serotonin, as we know, is used to regulate happy emotions, to regulate emotions, right?

Okay, but what they did find... Now, schizophrenia has a genetic connection, bipolar disorder. Those have genetic, but the rest do not. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, no genetics. Okay. What they did find is a genetic tie to something called the sensitivity gene. It's a short allele on the serotonin receptor. And serotonin, as we know, is used to regulate happy emotions, to regulate emotions, right?

So when you have a short allele, it means that you have a harder time picking up the serotonin. But it also means that you are more sensitive to stress. Now, those children who are born with this gene, this short allele on the serotonin receptor gene, they are more prone to mental illness later on because of that sensitivity to stress.

So when you have a short allele, it means that you have a harder time picking up the serotonin. But it also means that you are more sensitive to stress. Now, those children who are born with this gene, this short allele on the serotonin receptor gene, they are more prone to mental illness later on because of that sensitivity to stress.

What the study shows is if those children who are born with that gene for sensitivity are provided with emotionally and physically present attachment security in the first year, it neutralizes the expression of that gene. So epigenetics means that we're born with genes, like you might have a gene for rheumatoid arthritis or you might have a gene for cancer, but it never gets expressed.

What the study shows is if those children who are born with that gene for sensitivity are provided with emotionally and physically present attachment security in the first year, it neutralizes the expression of that gene. So epigenetics means that we're born with genes, like you might have a gene for rheumatoid arthritis or you might have a gene for cancer, but it never gets expressed.

Well, we all have genes for something, but they don't necessarily get expressed. That's what epigenetics is. It means the environment has to turn on the gene to make it, let's rock and roll, right?

Well, we all have genes for something, but they don't necessarily get expressed. That's what epigenetics is. It means the environment has to turn on the gene to make it, let's rock and roll, right?

What it showed in this study is that the children who were born with this genetic precursor, this sensitivity to stress, if they had sensitive empathic nurturing in present parents in the first year, it neutralized the expression of that gene so those children could be as healthy as children born without that gene.

What it showed in this study is that the children who were born with this genetic precursor, this sensitivity to stress, if they had sensitive empathic nurturing in present parents in the first year, it neutralized the expression of that gene so those children could be as healthy as children born without that gene.