When my children were young, I spent a lot of time depressed (wasn't properly dxed as bp 1 until much later) so I tried to explain to them that Mommy was sad & she didn't know why, but they didn't do anything to make me sad.

My mother was bp 1, as well, & we didn't get any explanation as to what was going on until after she died when I was a teen. We should have been told about her illness, because she was so irrational & sometimes abusive. She was in & out of mental institutions & we didn't understand what was going on.

When I was dxed with bp I explained the symptoms, treatment, etc. to my kids (by this time they were grown). They both have had depressive episodes so I want them to be aware of what mania is like in case they experience that. Hope they don't!--Suzy