Can a positive attitude improve mental illness? Can you inherit depression? My son said he was always depressed when he was little boy and never said anything. He keeps saying he's mentally ill, so he doesn't try to improve himself. He is very smart in math, but he wasted so much of his life drinking. I don't really think he is mentally ill. I think he just fried his brain somewhat. Now he just gives up and says he can't do anything, because he is mentally ill. Though now he has a bad back, but he was doing well at a meat plant until he had trouble with his back. Is he using mental illness as a crutch to avoid things? It seems like his counselor isn't encouraging him to better himself. How much is mental illness irreversible when have a positive attitude?