Is Bipolar genetic?

I have an extaended family member who married a man (and then divorced) who supposedly is bipolar. There is now a baby in the picture and everyone one is saying that the baby wil be bipolar. I am tired of ignorant people talking about it and wanted to get some facts. First of all, I don't even know if that father is bipolar. First I heard that he was living with two women who were... like it's an STD or something. (I know it's not!) The next thing I hear is that he is bipolar as well. Now they assume the baby will be this huge problem. Is Bipolar genetic and when is it usually diagnosed or detected? I'm personally more concerned that the mother is a single mom than the chances of her baby being bipolar but wanted the share facts with other noisy./ignorant family members. Thanks for the info.

http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/risk.htm

this may help you......good luck, pat

Bipolar is widely believed to have a genetic component, but having a parent or parents that is/are bipolar doesn't guarantee that the child will be. Even having a bipolar twin doesn't gaurantee the other will be. I'm bipolar and neither of my parents are, but I have a grandparent who was. I have a child and I sincerely hope that he does not develop the illness. So, it seems possible that the child has the potential to be bipolar, but it doesn't mean he will be for sure. There are many studies about this both past and ongoing. It will be interesting to see what they come up with in the future regarding detecting this disorder genetically.

It's textbook that BP is genetic but there such a spectrum. My maternal grandmother was BP with psychosis because she was more interbred than my mom was who had BP. My dad's side of the family had no mental illness, but I still have BP1 however not to the degee as my grandmother or mom. My ex-husband has no mental illness on their side. If hypothetically, I had married a man with BP depending if both his parents had both or only on parent with BP, he could be on any part of the spectrum, meaning mild, moderate, or severe case.
I hope this makes some sense for family. Virginia Wolfe and Ernest Hemminway among others had generations of everything on the Bipolar Spectrum; including suicides.
Maureen

Apparently, genetics are looked at by pdocs in their initial dx's. It is regarded as one of the "flags" for the illness, particularly if it shows up in close fam. members. My pdoc was interested in my having a mother with some kind of mood disorder, Her brother (my uncle), his daughter dz with BP, and my son, whose condition is very severe. My Pdoc looked at many other things too, though, before coming up with my dx of BP II.

but that is only a genetic vulnerability. Other life factors play a huge role, stress being a big one.

Assuming that a baby will develop the illness based on questionable family traits is dangerous, I think, because that will influence how the child is treated in his life.

My mother had bipolar. Out of her three children two have it (me & my brother). My mother had a worse case than I do & they didn't have the great new meds like they do now (Lamictal, Abilify, etc.). Both my children have had bouts of depression when they were teenagers. I had my first suicide attempt at 15. I don't know whether my children will experience a manic episode & get the diagnosis of bipolar, but I have educated them about the signs.

Stress is a MAJOR component for me. I was brought up in a chaotic environment with a mentally ill mother (also an alcoholic) plus a very cold, alcoholic father. My doc said the best thing I could do for my children is raise them in a stable home & that might prevent them from developing a mood disorder. Unfortunately, I was not put on the right meds until I was about 48! So they witnessed a lot of my illness.--Suzy