I have the feeling my dad leaned towards that also, after what I saw. My younger brother and sister (especially sister) grew up making a wild past for themselves. I tried so hard to love my sister, but she seemed so cruel and selfish when we were younger. I just didn't understand, but knew something was not right. My younger brother was a much milder version of her. It took a car accident a few years back to 'trigger' the bipolar to the degree she has today. I remember when she stayed with my husband and I for a few months and threatened suicide. We took her to a therapist. When I was with her as she was being pre-screened I remember the question coming up 'Do you hear voices in your head?' She said yes. The lady asked, 'Do they tell you to do things?' where my sister replied 'They tell me I'm stupid.'
My brother's bipolar was 'triggered' by the stress of his father-in-law firing him from the family business. (They have since made up) After he was diagnosed, he seemed to really lose it (probably coming out of denial?) and let it take control. He is a different person now when I see him. I use to say he had 'ego-lation', which was a term I coined for his macho behavior, but now he seems so self-absorbed he loses sight of taking care of his family.
Me? Sometimes I feel as if I can't deal with my family and the drama. Want to wisk my husband away to a far away land (Thailand? Nah, Hawaii.) and for us to live there happily. Having my mother and step-father move in with us has been a 'learning experience'. I will leave it at that.
The PTSD sounds like it could be something my dad dealt with. When my grandmother went to bars, she would lock him in the car for hours at a time while she had a good time. Do you know who Hop-a-long Cassidy was? He use to go up to the valley where my grandparents lived. He wanted to adopt my father as his son, and give him a better life, but my grandmother wouldn't let him. My father never forgave her for that. Kept a picture of Hop-a-long on his livingroom wall and would stare at it sometimes. He was a dreamer.