[wiretwister]

I have been reading that according to some studies (very small studies) , that the theory is that childhood emotional neglect ... can lead to bipolar later in life ... ( my thought is that instead of being inherited thru the genes ( not saying this is true for everyone ..not denying the genic factor for some ) but maybe , just maybe it can also be passed thru continued like mannerisms ... children often follow in there parents bad habits ... ) .. just looking for your thoughts .. and your experiences ...I was emotionally neglected in childhood ...

just a thought ... let me know what you think ... Tigger .

[SorryShaped]

CEN is all kinds of damaging. I know. I don't think it presents bipolar as a factor to the children. I was obviously bipolar before I knew anything in my family was wrong. I had the behaviours of bipolar at 3. I do remember that far, and then some. I was probably in CEN situations at that point too, but I don't think it caused bipolar. I posit that those in other ideal and non-ideal situations are bipolar just the same. I know someone from a very loving and very attentive family that has 3 bipolar generations married into it. That's off the topic a bit.

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

That's off the topic a bit.

not at all .. I want your input and insight ..Ty

[Unhinged88]

I had mood problems as a kid and CEN, so I don't think it caused my bipolar. I do think it led to a lot of other issues, anxiety and fear of relationships, etc. My uncle was bipolar, my other relatives are ok. So I think the genetic factor plays a larger part.

I think my bipolar was genetic. My dad and brother have mental health issues. I think my BPD (and definitely PTSD) were from childhood abuse. Anxiety was a bonus gift.

I think mental illnesses can have different causes.

[SorryShaped]

The ADHD I might blame on the CEN. I don't know tho.
Bipolar is all mine, but there are a few bipolar relatives.
There's definitely a schizophrenic and lots of depression and even some suicidality amongst my relatives on both sides.
PTSD is directly blamed on those that caused it. And unfortunately, going from one kind of abuse/neglect into another is like handing off a baton of issues. But, we seek out as adults what we're taught as children. Yuck that always makes me sick to say, but I did do that.
This thread does make me think though

[wildflowerchild25]

I have also heard that adults with bipolar have had a higher incindence of “childhood adversity” which can include CEN. I think it may not necessarily cause bipolar but may “awaken” it or make it worse than it might have been. I am a survivor of CEN. I showed extreme anxiety as a child but did not show bp symptoms until I was well into my teens, although it MAY have been seventh grade. Hard to say. But the CEN has definitely caused a whole host of other issues that are not necessarily related to my bp.

[~Christina]

Both contributed too my Bipolar life ..... full of my uncle at a very young and later rapes.

Every experience put another knotch on our MI belt so to speak.

[winter loneliness]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Both contributed too my Bipolar life ..... full of my uncle at a very young and later rapes.

Every experience put another knotch on our MI belt so to speak.

Wow. I am sorry. Horrible.

I did have an abusive family and bipolar genes. Twice the fun!

[HALLIEBETH87]

The pdoc who dxd bp told me
My childhood abuse is probably what contributed to it.

[Pookyl]

I was considered a ‘sensitive’ child but was not abused as a child and I have no family members with Bipolar.
According to my doctors my Bipolar was triggered by surgical menopause. The only other time I’ve been mentally unwell was after giving birth (PND) when again hormones and extreme fatigue were to blame.

[Victoria'smom]

IDK, me and my siblings all have mental illness. My parents tried, even having one work nights and the other work days. Now they weren't the best parents and there was CEN and abuses but they had 3 sometimes 4 kids with MI. How can someone cope with extreme behavior from all sides. They tried therapy with my older sibling, even had her long term hospitalization where they took out a mortgage payment for. Nothing helped her. She refused medication. So my less extreme behavior certainly wouldn't change seeing a therapist. Even through I had SI, ED, and an od. It was met with my parents feeling it was a cry for attention and to just ignoring it is the best solution. Even as adult when they see marks you can see their pain but they say nothing. Now they'll talk to me about my son about his picking. As an adult I'm the only one who got help.

My younger sister thinks if she was to tell the truth she'd be locked away. My older sister thinks the world is the problem (plus my parents bail her out often.) My brother is in and out of jail.

I definitely suffered from neglect, but also many other things. I lived life alone, mostly a latch key child. I never saw my mother except for half day on Saturday and all day Sunday. I had no siblings and was my father in another state. I had a dog.

My mother was bipolar, but nothing like mine. She was the type that disappeared, sometimes for years (she disappeared three times I can remember—once for two years). She was also schizophrenic and had borderline personality disorder. She was paranoid and nervous.

She demanded perfection of me. If I didn’t have a perfect piano lessons or all A’s she would explode and destroy the house. I’ve never seen anything like it on TV or the movies. She would completely destroy/vandalize our own house. Glass and debris everywhere. She even took a hammer to my piano once.

She hurt me and my pets. I won’t describe it.

The physical abuse wasn’t nearly as bad as the way she terrorized me. Lots of verbal threats against my life, or her life and mine. You know those scary chase scenes in horror films? Yes, she chased me in extremely terrifying ways I won’t describe.

I have complex PTSD and bipolar. Now that I have read about complex PTSD, I realize I have other risk factors. Like having to fight off my own father (when my mother disappeared).

And having to sign to pull the plugs on my husband’s artificial heart and breathing machine (the doctors said he was essentially gone) and watching him die.

So, after all that, I got worse after my husband died too young and got diagnosed bipolar (for the second time). Anxiety is my worst problem.

My therapist told me she can’t believe I function as well as I do. That kind of bothers me. I think it’s the dissociating that saved me. I can block things out like nobody’s business.

I don’t think I stood a chance, frankly. I don’t think I had a snowball’s chance.

[bizi]

bless you my dear ((((HUGS))))
bizi

[Northchild]

Genetics and possible organic problems with the brain load the gun - our experiences pull the trigger.

[BipolaRNurse]

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.

[Row Jimmy]

I was probably emotionally neglected as a child. I grew up in your standard Irish Catholic household where the goals are usually 1. work hard, 2. put food on the table and clothes in the closet, and 3. carry on the good family name. My mom wasn't all that loving. My dad is a good man and a good grandfather but more emotional about politics than family matters and dismissive of creative pursuits. But I still think my BP is inherited from my mother. IMO she's an undiagnosed BP - mercurial, prone to angry outbursts, cold and distant in many ways, grandiose.

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by Northchild

Genetics and possible organic problems with the brain load the gun - our experiences pull the trigger.

this seems to be the general idea most of you are expressing ...but I did notice almost everyone was CEN ... so maybe the premise is " partly right " ... I know my mother was bonkers ... but whether she was cen and I was " influenced " by that or I received her " crazy " genes or both ..I do not know ... either way thanks for all the comments .. Tigger ...

Totally generic for me. My childhood was very good until a stress in my mid teens. Often a stress can trigger bipolar, but I think there must be some kind of genetic predisposition to it. I think it is possible that some people with a genetic predisposition may not necessarily go on to have severe or frequent enough symptoms to lead to a diagnosis.

[Sunflower123]

I’m adopted so I don’t know what the genetics are. I think in my case it was genetics, CEN and other adverse experiences (including my adoption) that brought it out at age 32.

It’s interesting that our neglect manifested in different ways for my siblings and me.

Working through my CEN in therapy to alleviate some of that damage. Best wishes.

[tecomsin]

Originally Posted by winter loneliness

Wow. I am sorry. Horrible.

I did have an abusive family and bipolar genes. Twice the fun!

ed

Me too. I thought i was adopted when growing up because my sister and I were treated so differently. I was alienated from my own family and am alienated to this day from human relationships. This may not have caused my bipolar/schizoaffective but it certainly made it more toxic than it might otherwise have been. I was a successful professional until my mid 40s when I had my first diagnosed manic episode.

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

The pdoc who dxd bp told me
My childhood abuse is probably what contributed to it.

no one ever suggested this to me. I think I would have looked at my illness differently if they had.

[SorryShaped]

I did some reading on this since the topic opened. The events in one's life do contribute to symptoms, no doubt about it, but do not directly cause bipolar. It's a body chemistry thing. Your body can't regulate properly and it causes mental problems.
Your past influences how you react to those events as well as your reactions to the chemical imbalances

[Unrigged64072835]

I have both genetics (dad's side) and childhood abuse to factor. It can be that abuse and neglect can aggravate underlying predisposition to the disorder.

[Unhinged88]

Not to hijack the OP here, I wonder if bipolar is mostly genetic, why so many of us have CEN or abuse in our pasts. Do these people sense something is different with us and treat us differently? Would a person who has bipolar genetically and no abuse or CEN have a less severe type? Now my brain is thinking...

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by Unhinged88

Not to hijack the OP here, I wonder if bipolar is mostly genetic, why so many of us have CEN or abuse in our pasts. Do these people sense something is different with us and treat us differently? Would a person who has bipolar genetically and no abuse or CEN have a less severe type? Now my brain is thinking...

Bipolar people tend to be a more emotional lot. Could our early emotional difficulties cause the CEN as a coping mechanism from our uninformed/ignorant parents? Eeewwww. I don't like that thought.