Alcinus, Alcinus. Clam down, young man. No need to attack anyone; this is a support forum. I also don't agree with nearly every point of LaughinMan's theory, but I am impressed by the creativity and courage he displayed by formulating a non-traditional explanation and posting it for the world to see. One of the biggest current detriments to progress, IMO, is the general belief that people need 11 years of post-secondary education before their thoughts are valuable. We all have brains that can sense, understand, connect, and theorize. Asking a non-scientist for his opinion now and then could give us insights into issues that have not yet been explored and potential answers that have not been tested. The wisdom of non-experts is not blinded by prevailing theories which may bias the interpretation of further research (remember that nothing can be proven in science, just falsified). The layman is also not burdened by the views of a mentor. He is allowed to think more freely than the experts.

Now go ahead and bully me over how idiotic and disorganized that last paragraph was.

To everyone (not just Alcinus):

I believe that a genetic connection between ADHD and bipolar has been discovered, though I could be wrong about that. I do know that individuals with both ADHD and bipolar generally have a poorer prognosis than people with just one of the disorders.

Innerzone, hyperfocusing actually can be a symptom of ADHD. I'm not saying that you have/had ADHD, just clearing up a common misconception. Usually hyperfocus alternates with an inability to focus. Some psychiatrists think that ADHD should be renamed "Attention Inconsistency Syndrome".

Both ADHD and bipolar are largely considered to be biological disorders, so I do not think that repressed emotion would be a common cause for either disorder as we currently conceive of them (remember, science is about proving ourselves wrong. We can never be certain of anything.) Of course, nature is not the entire picture; though identical twins have a higher concordance rate for bipolar disorder than fraternal twins, the concordance rate is still nowhere near 100%. Environmental factors still do play a role. I'm majoring in psychology and neurobiology, and all my psych and bio classes seem to be singing the same melody: it is never nature OR nurture, but both factors almost always work in tandem. For anyone interested in how this applies to psychopathology, look up the diathesis-stress model.

Good discussion!