I don't know for sure if I would have Bipolar if I didn't have such a traumatic childhood. Only my uncle and cousin may have BP (not diagnosed but seem to have the symptoms). My parents, grandparents and sister are/were(grandparents dead now) all very stable mentally. What I do know is that when I have had a big trauma trigger I often go into a bad BP episode which confuses things a lot. One pdoc said my BP is due to the trauma but my T and current pdoc believe I would have had BP even if I had a great childhood as it is a biological disease. I tend to lean towards the belief that trauma only complicates BP rather than causes it. I have clear episodes that occur when trauma is not an issue. Last year my PTSD was very quite, so much so that I don't have the diagnosis anymore, and I still had about 4 severe episodes. It was a horrible year.

Has your BP diagnosis been missed due to another co-occuring illness like PTSD or BPD so the doctor focuses on that illness and doesn't see the BP?