What are the chances of me getting schizophrenia from my older cousin?

"A majority of individuals who develop schizophrenia -- 63 percent -- do not have any family history of schizophrenia in first-degree (parents and siblings) or second-degree (grandparents, aunts, and uncles) relatives".


Dr. Torrey also notes, however, that "the more relatives you have with schizophrenia, the higher your risk is of developing it. From a practical point of view this means that if your sister is your only close relative with schizophrenia, your own risk is very low. If, on the other hand, your uncle and sister both have schizophrenia, then your risk is higher. And if you are unfortunate enough to come from one of the relatively rare families that are heavily loaded with the disorder (e.g., mother, aunt, grandfather, and two siblings affected), then your own risk is substantially higher and you should give serious consideration to the question of having children."

Yes, schizophrenia run in families, and it starts manifesting itself in affected individuals when they reach their late teens to early twenties.

Your cousin could have inherited the disease from one of his relatives that are NOT related to you. You are cousins, not identical twins.

Take care.

You can't get it from your older cousin. What is somewhat possible is if you had a common ancestor (such as a grandparent) who had schizophrenia it could place you at a higher possibility of having trouble with it. But, since you're doing fine, I think you have nothing to worry about.

No, you cannot catch it from anyone else.

yes