Hi Dig, I am a proponent that you need the unhealthy environment to develop a mental illness. I feel that our development is everything and that includes owning a healthy development too, it can go either way. I still had my anxiety when I had my first child almost 10 years ago. I managed okay with her until my second was born and then all the extra work and stress sent me over the edge. I gave my children a very rough 2 years of their lives (2 to 4 yrs old and 0 to 2). Yes, my anxiety affected them but it also made me change. My husband kept telling me that what I was doing wasn't good and it finally sunk in and I finally figured out what I needed to do to improve the environment for my children. It took another few years to work the effects out of them (their anxiety, etc. from what they had to experience).

I have a neighbor who has OCD and her 11 yr old is very anxious. She has never done any work on herself, however.

So my advice is if you are going to have children you must do the work to get better......

Our children only know what we teach them and anxiety can be taught...... A person becomes anxious because they don't feel secure from being in a secure environment. If a child is watching an anxious parent they are not feeling security.

I also feel that those with depression never learned how to deal with their feelings. If you learn how to do this (learn how to deal with your emotions) you can teach your child how to do this. Yes, assumption of you on my part......