I was another CEN kid who was probably bipolar almost from age six, even though I wasn't diagnosed properly until I was 53. I'm not sure if the emotional neglect is actually related to the BP, but I'm sure it didn't help. I felt very much alone as a little girl and had to cope with big emotions without adult assistance. I think my mother was bipolar too, but she would never have acknowledged that she might have a problem. Mental illness simply didn't exist in our family, even though alcoholism ran rampant and my grandmother even spent time in a sanitarium for what was then called a "nervous breakdown".

I wonder sometimes what my mother would think if she knew I have bipolar disorder. She was so judgmental in this life; maybe in the next she has become wise and understanding. I like to think so, anyway.