[wigl]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Dementia and schizophrenia are present in my family as well and caring for those in the later stages has been really hard.

I found myself torn by the same question of whether to test for genetic predisposition. After reading The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose author is in a similar position, I have found some comfort in deciding not to test for now. As he says in an NPR interview:

> There's no one-to-one correspondence between a genome and the chances of developing schizophrenia. And until we can create that map - and whether we can create that map ever is a question - but until I - we can create that map, I will certainly not be tested because it - that idea - I mean, that's, again, the center of the book. That confines you. It becomes predictive. You become ... a previvor (ph). A previvor is someone who's survived an illness that they haven't even had yet. You live in the shadow of an illness that you haven't had yet.

https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528097708/the-power-of-genes-...

[gonehome]

Schizophrenia seems like a tricky one given that its triggers are less well understood and trauma seems to be part of it (so maybe knowing would lead to increased anxiety/stress which could make onset more likely?).

Otherwise it seems like whether or not you test the reality is set independent of your knowledge of it. I'd like to think that I'd want to test given that, but I suppose it's hard to know how I'd act without really being in that position.

I loved his book, but I think I disagree with him on this - feels like a rationalization of an irrational thing.

[wigl]

My experience was similar to the author's in that I grew up around family members who were in advanced stages. The possibility of inheritance stares you in the face whenever they're around.

If there was a conclusive test, I would definitely take it for the sake of future offspring. Otherwise, it would likely give me more anxiety than useful information.