I was only diagnosed a few years ago, when I was 22 but I've been bipolar my whole life. It was only after the fact that my father told me he was also bipolar and could tell that I was too. I hated him for a long time and blamed him for my disease and for not telling me and for letting me think that everything I was going through was just me being a horrible person and for a long time I thought that all the suffering I was going through and had gone through could have been prevented.

There is a strong and I mean STRONG genetic link with bipolar disorder but some forms are so mild that they are never diagnosed and because they are so closely linked bipolar people often pass on depression or anxiety disorders instead of the same mood disorder they are suffering from. Like anything I'm sure there are lots of exceptions, but when I was diagnosed one of the first things I thought is that I would never ever want a child to go through what I went through and even though I really want to be a mother, it has put a big weight on all things reproductive.