“What can I do, it’s in my genes!” In recent years, this has become a
standard explanation for many of the health problems we have to face in our
lives. Indeed, there are few human diseases without scientific studies trying to
pinpoint ‘genetical causes’ as the root. Consequently, there are efforts to find
genetic roots of mental problems as well. But 150 years after Mendel (the
‘father of modern genetics’) had outlined his ‘Laws of Inheritance’, we have
still to see significant therapies that could wipe out major human burdens like
cancer, addictions, diabetes or violence by purely genetical means. This is not
to say that genetic science doesn’t have potential; but all the other
influential factors should not be forgotten.
One of the weirdest aspects of the notion that all things
human are genetically predetermined is that it takes everyone completely out of
the context of their environment. We might as well not put personal or societal
energies into trying to improve ourselves or others, because it’s inevitable and
unchangeable anyway... But in fact there is just a very small number of very
rare diseases that are truly genetically determined. Most complex conditions
like ADHD, schizophrenia, a tendency to violence or addiction might have a
predisposition that has a genetic component, but a predisposition is not the
same as a predetermination. Genes just seem to give us different ways of
responding to our environment. Some of the childhood influences and the method
of child rearing in turn also affect gene expression; they can actually turn on
or off various genes to put us on a different developmental track which may suit
the kind of world we’ve got to deal with.
For example, a study done in Montreal with suicide victims
looked at autopsies of the brains of these people and it turned out that if a
suicide victim had been abused as a child, the abuse actually caused a genetic
change in the brain that was absent in the brains of people who had not been
abused. That’s an epigenetic effect: an environmental impact that is capable to
either activate or deactivate certain genes.
So, in adaptation to the famous quote of Shakespeare, “There are more things
in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our scientific world,” there are more
things we can do to change ourselves than we might imagine.
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Live the happy life you planned! Richard L.
Fellner is head of the Counseling Center Pattaya in Soi Kopai and
offers consultations in English and German languages after making an
appointment at 0854 370 470. |
