The family jewels are often passed down through the generations. In routinely interviewing a new patient, after first determining the reasons for this office visit, the second most important assessment is the family history. Mental illness is often prewired in the individual's DNA. The risk of having a particular medical problem may increase with evidence of a preexisting illness in the family blood line.

In my career as a psychiatrist, I have conducted thousands of initial patient interviews in a variety of settings. Often the acknowledgment of a family history in the interview process is a challenging reality check. The emotional reactions to the inquiries of family histories are always widely assorted. They range from nervous laughter, to tears of pain, to no knowledge of their family legacy.

Some patients quickly deny any blood line connections. Decades of being in the psychiatry business gives me permission to closely assess quick denials of a family history. An abrupt denial is often followed with my inquiry about family members who are not diagnosed, but have similar problems as the patient. Careful prodding often allows the patient to open their sealed family closet door of mental illnesses. Behind the door of pain are forgotten memories of the distress of untreated illness.

An excerpt from my award-winning book, The Pregnancy Decision Handbook for Women with Depression, describes a common fictionalized memory. "Our house was a mess. My mom was a full-time housewife but it was a total chaos. There was clothes and garbage everywhere. My three siblings and I never bought any friends over. It was too embarrassing for anyone to see. My mom was just overwhelmed with raising us kids and chores. She cried constantly and promised daily to do better. It never happened."

The human brain is kind. It often tends to forget or change very painful memories. Some individuals delay intervention with their symptoms due to fears of repeating their family history. It is hard for them to believe that treatments and outcomes have changed over the years and now better treatment options are available.

So the message is that if you have symptoms of emotional illness and a family history of illness, get yourself assessed by a mental health professional for the sake of your child. Kids of all ages want their mothers present and emotionally available to them.

How is your health? Kids are busy and parenting them requires lots of energy. Individuals with chronic emotional illness often wait to seek medical treatment until they are in crisis. Unfortunately, the secondary consequences of untreated illness can be life threatening illnesses such as stroke, heart attack and late stage cancer. Healthy behaviors such as maintaining your routine health physicals and following up with any chronic illness such as asthma or hypertension increases your odds of being able to watch your kids grow up as adults. Also, there is a good possibility your kid will model your health behaviors, be they good or bad. So your legacy, such as being overweight and smoking cigarettes, will probably continue in the younger generation.

Thoughts of becoming a parent bring the responsibility of achieving your best body condition in order to carry a baby for nine months. It is common knowledge that chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, and mental illness can worsen with pregnancy. A crisis phone call to your health provider saying you are now pregnant is not ideal. An unplanned pregnancy in someone with a chronic severe health problem is usually a big deal and you and your provider do not need that kind of drama. If you are on medications that have to be changed, the worst experience can be an abrupt discontinuation from your prescribed medication.

Doctors are busy and you may not be able to see your provider immediately. So if you are thinking about getting pregnant, schedule an appointment for prepregnancy counseling. Your mind may say baby now, but your provider may have work for you to do first to obtain the best outcome for yourself and your baby. If you are already a parent and have not followed your best health behaviors, especially if you have a chronic medical problem, consider seeing your health provider NOW!

My first blog from the Mindsupport Minute is Embrace Your Emotional illness. Being a parent can be rewarding but also be emotionally challenging. The presence of active symptoms of illness can have a negative impact on your ability to be the best parent for a kid Just because you believe that motherhood will bring you happiness, it will not cure your chronic medical problem.

The media have informed us about the importance of post-partum issues. The image of Andrea Yates and her dead children gave us graphic visuals of the devastating impact of untreated disease. The potential consequences of untreated emotional illness do not end with the post-partum period. It is important to address your emotional illness and its impact upon parenting your child for years beyond post-partum. What are you going to do when you feel so horrible that you can't tolerate even hearing the voices of people and your kid seeks your undivided attention?

The message for this blog is your emotional illness is not a weakness, it is a medical problem. Get help for yourself. You an your child deserve it

The good news is that planning offers the best option. I have repeatedly witnessed my patients doing good jobs of raising their children. This requires them to adopt a daily life practice for managing their illness. When they are symptomatic, many have an identified support network to assist them with their parenting.

Treatment works. It has been wonderful to get holiday pictures of my patients' kids over the years. They appear happy and are reportedly doing well in school. My personal experience with motherhood changed my clinical practice of pre-pregnancy counseling. Now my question is, "Ok, if you want to be a mother, what are your plans for controlling your symptoms?" The message is to recognize that your emotional illness is real. Now what are you going to do to keep your symptoms in check for motherhood?

The parenting process can be very stressful. What is stress anyway? Stress is how your respond to events that produce significant emotional strain. In my career as a psychiatrist, I have heard many way patients respond to unexpected life events. Maybe now is the time to change any unhealthy responses to adverse events. The thought of having a baby is the perfect time to address your stress management.