Bipolar Children?

Bipolar Children?

As you may know I like to write controversial topics. One post on Facebook appeared to me today and it has me extremely pissed off about how uneducated and judgmental it was. Here it is...

As I applaud her for not having children, as well as the fact after a post like this it's better that she doesn't procreate. It was not fair to throw a jab at the rest of the Bipolar community for their decision to have children. There's a thin line between an opinion and a stupid uneducated bullshit post. I would love to give out a few misconceptions people have about people with Bipolar deciding to start a family of their own.

1. It's not guaranteed that the parent having bipolar will pass it down to the children. One of my children Gabriel has no signs of being bipolar when both of his parents had it. Would you look at that? Sure he has signs of a couple mental illness conditions such as Anxiety, ADHD, and OCD but did you see Bi-polar anywhere there? Looking back at it now I showed signs of Bi-polar since I was around 13 years old. As an older teenager about 15-17 years old, I experienced a bad case of hyper-sexuality and was dubbed a nymphomaniac. You would think being a parent with the disorder you could spot the signs a mile away. I am very in tune with that sort of thing. The only child I gave birth to who is showing signs is my youngest. He is 5 years old and goes through his ups and downs like I do. My oldest son/nephew (adopted by my sister) shows signs of depression but has not been diagnosed with Bi-polar. So out of 3 it only passed down to one of my children and not even to the one you'd expect it to be passed down to.

2. Parents with Bipolar are not irresponsible and selfish for deciding to have children. We can function just like any other parent when we put our minds to it. Our love for our children isn't different either. If our children are well taken care of and loved dearly than what's the problem? Anyone can be irresponsible it's not a Bipolar trait. If the child gets Bipolar passed on to them it may not be their fault but it isn't the end of the world either. In fact, it's actually pretty nice to have someone related to you understand you fully and a child with Bipolar disorder having a parent that also has it makes for in depth understanding and even bonding. I would think it drives people together when they have such a thing in common. Telling someone they are irresponsable for having children is like telling a person with cancer remission not to. It's just stupid.

3. Mental illnesses will always be a plague. I had gotten my Bipolar disorder from a traumatic childhood. I was torn in two directions between my birth and adoptive parents in a custody battle and it left an everlasting loose screw in my mind that altered the chemicals in my brain. It's not necessarily a genetic happening. whether or not you reproduce there's plenty of other means for a child to get the disorder. Most mental illnesses can be treated once you find the medication(s) that works for you. Same goes for children, there are many medications for children suffering mental illnesses.

4. In her defense in a way. Many parents didn't discover their Bipolar until after having their children. Not that they would put them back where they came from even if they could. To many of us, children are a blessing regardless of their mental status. My youngest is showing signs of Bipolar, Anxiety, OCD, and ADHD all which I have. He is the reason I wake up and go to work in the morning, the reason I come home after, the reason I wake up after a long night up on the weekends. He's the reason I am happy and not trying to end my life every waking moment. Children are full of many emotions and they can change on a dime. That's all children though far into their teenage years. They also inflict many emotions on their parents and tend to keep us on our toes.

What is so bad about a person with Bipolar having children? I think I debunked most of the theories here with sufficient evidence found around Facebook groups and looking it up online as well as self experience. Think before you make a judgmental statement that can offend others, you have no idea how capable or incapable they may be to raising children regardless of whether or not they come out having Bipolar later in life. It's not the end of the world. children are just the beginning.