Hello, I am the mother of a 16 year old boy who I raised since he was 14 and at that age, he decided to move to another state to live with his father and two half-siblings to attend high school. He has known since he was old enough to understand such things that I have bipolar illness and that sometimes if affects the way he and I interact. I have tried to limit and stay ahead of those affects but it is very difficult, as both of you know.

Since he moved, I have missed him terribly. It was a decision we worked on for almost two years and he is very happy with it. I still struggle with it. I had him at age 41. I was not supposed to be able to have children due to severe endometriosis but he was a welcome surprise late in life.

I often wonder how much my illness affected our relationship and being the age that he was, I'm not sure he had the words to explain it to me even if he knew.

I only wanted to tell you that I think that this thread is one of the best I have ever read here on PsychCentral, at least is has helped me very much in understanding how a parent's mental illness impacts a child and how both the child and the parent feel about the illness and it's effect upon the relationship they share. It was honest and tender in revealing the realities associated with the illness.

Thank you so much for writing it.