Bipolar inheritance

So it was always my understanding that my great-grandfather was bipolar and based on my memories of him, I definitely remember what could be classified as serious and chronic depression.

But at Thanksgiving this year my family said he wasn't always like that and that it was something that set in with advanced age. So they were more than a little skeptical of the validity of his being bipolar (and, I suspect the validity of my own diagnosis).

How many of you had family members who were bipolar, or didn't? There is a huge incident of depression on both sides of my family but I don't know how genetic that is.

My mom was, I have a brother and a sister who both are. And another brother that probably is, but he is a Vietnam Vet and has so many other issues that you can't tell.
And no, they didn't and do not treat for it. Unless you count driving everyone else crazy, drinking a fifth of jack a day and popping illegal narcotics.

Everything I have ever read states that these things have a genetic predisposition. However...it's gotta start somewhere. So if you have been diagnosed read about it. Learn about it, but mostly, as hard as it is, be honest with yourself. Denial just hurts everyone around you.

I find it's hard to go back thru family history on psychiatric issues. Things were so taboo back then and it actually was'nt all that long ago that people were doing shock therapy and others placed in institutions when all they needed was one-on-one help. I suspect my mother and my grandmother but neither would have ever dreamed of going to see a doctor because of it.

I suspect an aunt from my mother's side was somewhat schizophrenic ( i only heard of 1 psychotic incident, that my mom let slip by accident) so that's a MAYBE. The only time any of my immediate family was depressed was when my eldest brother and my father passed on... They are now back to normal (whatever that is) Out of 2 parents and 6 kids, I'm the only 1 suffering. Don't know anything bout my grandparents if any of them or their family suffered, they were most likely sent to a priest.

It was explained to me by a psychologist that research has found that in order to find the genetic link for bipolar disorder you may have to go back as many as 7 generations. And who on earth knows much about their family beyond a couple of generations?

Until our generation, people just did not get help for mental health issues, so much has to be speculation.

I have no solid genealogical evidence for mental illness. The closest I can come is that my grandmother definitely had her quirks, but the family stories about her are mostly found funny (which says a great deal about my family's enlightenment).

Eloise, your family may be right when they say your great-grandfather's problems were an issue of aging. That is a distinct possibility. They may have more solid memories of him prior to his problems than you do. That's one of the difficulties with this.

We know that my great-great aunt was diagnosed as bipolar. I just recieved her complete chart from SW Mental Health Institute and she would go from be so depressed she was canatonic to being so manic she was psychotic. The chart indicates that my great-great grandmother, who was also committed to the same hospital, was diagnosed with same thing. The chart also says that my great great grandmother had a sister who died in the hospital. So there it is defiently there on at least that side of the family. My mom said that she thinks my great gradmother may have been bipolar based on how she would act.

That being said--she turned around the next day and said that psych docs diagnose "everybody as bipolar" and all it means is "you can't handle the ups and downs of life, can't handle stress and the doc just wants money." I think my mom just can't accept that there is mental illness running through the family. I've decided the best thing to do is ignore the comments and just not discuss the subject with them as much as possible. Really, unless you're having to depend on them for care or they're footing the bill for doctor visits, prescriptions, etc. it's none of their business. If you're not going to get support from them then cut them out as far as talking about the issue with them.

Even though Bipolar Disorder is commonly inherited and having a previous family member with the condition increases the risk of another having Bipolar...it isn't always necessary to have a family member with the condition - as there is no concrete evidence to support why Bipolar Disorder occurs at this current moment in time.

Nobody else in my family has been diagnosed Bipolar, though we have suspicions about my father having the condition (he refuses to see a therapist or psychiatrist of any sort) and I can certainly see hypomania and depression in him and different times.

The issue is, my family is old fashioned in most respects, and sometimes the condition just isn't picked up on...due to lack of contact with doctors and reluctance to diagnose people in their late years - even if evidence of a psychiatric condition has been present since a young age.

RB ♥

My Father was dx as bipolar 1 and with anorexia . My mother with depression. Out of their three children I am the only one dx with multiple mental health issues including bipolar 1 and anorexia . My father and I were estranged and he was dx after that so the link is interesting on both counts to me. The family suspects his father was also bipolar, but only speculation.

No history of mental illness on either side of my family as far back as can be traced.
Theory told to me was that it can lie dormant for generations and needs the perfect storm of events to bring it out...

Either way, I'm bipolar, I'm an alcoholic, and I'm a synesthete. Only one in the fam!

Who knows, the point is I have what I have.

My fathers side is clear but my mothers side...she was bipolar or depressed (commited suicide), my moms sister was bipolar (also commited sui), my other moms sister is bipolar I, and my moms 3rd sister is also bipolar w/ other issues. My moms daughter from another father is also bipolar I. And that's just the family history I know!
There's a very strong genetic link on my mothers side. How much that plays a factor? I don't know but at least some I would think.

Mom's Side: My Mom is Bipolar I (maybe Borderline) and so was her Brother who was also an alcoholic. I also think my Mom has anxiety issues (she refuses to get diagnosed). There are stories that her Mom was Bipolar and OCD, but we cannot confirm that. My Great-Grandfather was Bipolar and an alcoholic. My Brother is OCD and struggles with depression, but he refuses to get help.

On my Dad's side, there are only rumors. My Grandfather was an alcoholic and his wife may have suffered from situational depression. My Dad's one Brother may have been depressed and his Aunt may have had Bipolar, but no one knows for sure. His side of the family is a bit of a mystery.

I am Bipolar and have anxiety issues. I may be a borderline alcoholic, so I watch how much I drink (when I am on certain drugs, I do drink too much). I also struggled with PTSD and wanting to stay as thin as possible at certain times in my life. I think s lot of it is genetics and the PTSD and weight issues were situational.

Lots of depression in my immediate family (100%) and anxiety-based disorders on my dad's side. When I asked dad about family mental health history, he said that he thought my mom was bipolar.

I thought that was complete BS at first, because I had heard (and been told by T) that if your parent was bipolar you would know it. Then heard my grandma and aunt talking about things that were totally contrary to what I remember. And recently it occurred to me that if mom was BP II, that might actually explain a lot, and could be something a kid would be oblivious to (especially ADD kids, as we all were...)

Not that it's possible or advisable to make posthumous dx's, but... She would get into rages over small stuff on occasion and was sometimes very irritable - the walk on eggshells sort of thing. I remember her being very high energy, outgoing, and joyful at times, but especially later in life (late 40's and early 50's, she died at 53) she was depressed a lot to the point of being suicidal (god, those were awful phone calls to get), totally isolated, and had major, major scary sleep problems, so if there was some kindling effect or very slow cycling, I could see that being something that had been unnoticeable earlier but came out in force later when she lived alone. Now that I think of it, she also said stuff from time to time that could easily suggest psychotic symptoms, but hard to evaluate for someone outside the specific situations (everyone at work was against her, etc.)

My memory is fuzzy enough that it's hard to speculate and I don't really know. Even if my mom did pass on BP to me, she gave me so much more that I would never hold it against her for a second.

Both my parents have unipolar depression as did all of my grandparents. My brother has ADD but so far has been spared depression. I have no doubt that there is a strong genetic component to BP in most cases.

My father and his sister are both bipolar, my mother had issues of mania when I was younger and my paternal grandmother has anxiety issues and some agoraphobia. However, she lived in Japan during WWII to we always attributed it more to that. Now I have Bipolar type II, anxiety, mania, PTSD and depression issues. My 4 year old son is showing some signs of being bipolar and manic, but I'm not sure if he could even be diagnosed yet.

Porcupine2 - they still use ECT although it is done humanely. I had a treatment this morning. They put you under and then do the treatment so you don't feel anything and you are also given a paralytic so you don't hurt yourself during the seizure.

My mother and sister all have/had depression. One nephew has ADD and OCD while another has schizoaffective disorder.

father-bipolar, alcoholic, drug addict, child abuser
mother, grandmother-depression, both alcoholics
sister-depression
son-bipolar
son-adhd

-And this is just the immediate family!
Bluemountains