[husbandwithbipolar]

I was reading that bipolar is genetic. My husband has bipolar what are the chances that our son will have it also? How early can it be diagnosed?

My husbands parents had no idea he had it and spent his whole life trying to make him "normal" it distroyed him. He was diagnosed at the age on 28 and is still trying to fix the damaged his parents did. I don't want to put my child through that.

[hamster-bamster]

There is a genetic contribution, but it is not determinative. There are a lot of factors. Your son is at a higher risk than an average kid without family history, but still, there is a much higher likelihood that he WON'T develop bipolar.

The age range for diagnosis varies tremendously.

The presentation and symptomatology also differ from person to person, providing kaleidoscopic variety.

Bipolar is notoriously difficult to diagnose in adolescents because moodiness is a normal characteristic of that age group and drawing the line between teenage angst and depression or teenage rebellion and hypomania is extremely difficult.

I think you are lucky that you have a son - if he develops bipolar and ever needs medication, the choice between getting pregnant and not treating the bipolar or treating the bipolar with teratogenic drugs and not getting pregnant would not be relevant for him. This is a huge relief for you.

You also need to be vigilant enough for signs of depression during adolescence. If such signs develop, and your son sees a dr, that dr MUST know that the dad has bipolar, because giving Antidepressants (AD's) alone to a teen with a family history of bipolar is dangerous. AD's are sooooo commonly given to teens today, and by whom? By family doctors without psychiatric expertise... so AD's could flip your son into mania. That is more or less the most important precaution for you to keep in mind. Better yet, if your son ever develops any kind of problem remotely implicating anxiety or mood disorder, do not talk to family physician other than to ask for referrals. Get a psychiatrist with an adolescent sub-specialty help your son.

Other than that, regular and sufficient sleep, life with recurrent activities, not too much stress, not too many AP classes, etc. - avoid psychosocial triggers that may set in motion what otherwise can remain dormant for life.

Enough sleep and moderate exercise would be very helpful. If you can model it rather than "make" him do this, you'd be a superwoman .

[husbandwithbipolar]

Thank you so much. This really helps and put my mind at ease a little ☺

[Crazy Hitch]

Well said hamster-bampster

[Victoria'smom]

There is a 10-15% chance. I'm of the strong belief if any parent has a chronic illness their child should be in therapy. The therapist will tell you if your son is unwell. There are a lot of doctors that diagnosis kids with just adjustment disorder or mood disorder nos solely for insurance. Pigeonholing a kid to mental illness is not what most doctors want. They want to treat the child with the best privacy just in case through therapy and/or medication they don't fit the diagnosis as they get older. My son was diagnosed at 8 but has not been given the formal diagnosis because his doctor wanted to wait until he had to be hospitalized to formally dx him. She did give us heads up and help with skills. So then we move his new diognosis is impulse control issues.

[Justugh]

knuckle bump for hamster

he forgot 1 thing it is about the chemical make up in the mind ..........so the time to watch is at 2 periods when he is in preteens just before the voice change and after it .......2 time is 25 to 30 when those hormones are stepping down and going to lower lvls then what were pumps for last 13/18 years

miguel's mom
get one of those big red buttons with a sound or light .............put it some place and tell the kiddie not to push it every week he does not push it he will get a special dinner (fav foods) and a whole month he gets a toy or video game

it worked for me to learn to ? the impulse before doing the action not 100% fool proof but it did help .............just make it wired to a light bulb so if it is pushed it turns on and only u know how to make it stop (for the times u are not around to hear sound) ....my dad knew how to do that stuff i do not

[Megaera]

I wondered about this too. No one on either side of my family has bipolar. It activated on me after my secons child was born when I got post partum depresion. Sometimes I worry that my kids might get it. When I took my Psychology classes it said that the more bad stuff that happens the more chance you have of getting a mental ilness that lies dormant. Hope this gives you hope. It did for me.

[Trippin2.0]

Hammy slam dunks, yes she does it yet again!!!


To the OP, I too worry about any genetic component as I have a daughter, but since I'm a psychiatric anomaly in my family, I'm hoping she'll continue swimming in the neuro-typical gene pool.


My own symptoms started as a teen and were dismissed as teen angst, but I knew all along that was bullshyt because I was very close to my friends and witnessed how our emotions operated on different levels, how my emotional responses seemed to be so much bigger, even when faced with identical circumstances...


Also I was a pretty smart kid and that always helps.


So my game plan is to trust my daughter if she's convinced something more than hormones is at play, and to help her accordingly...