What is the chances of my children becoming bipolar?
I have just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, both of my sisters have it, we assume that my father had it also, considering that he committed suicide. But I am more worried about my children they are 11 and 7 years old.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I think there 50 percent chances for your kids having it
There aren’t any exact percentages. I have it, my father had it. My youngest son has it but his older brother is well. It usually passed from father to son. But we know that that isn’t always the case. I can tell you that I have five brothers and they all have children and not one of them is bipolar. I was the only one out of six siblings. I hope that has helped you. Of course it is a terrible disease to have but I feel lucky in that I recognized my son’s symptoms at age 14 and got him help and medication. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. So we have to look at it this way there is an advantage to knowing the symptoms and being able to help our children quickly. The odds of your own children having bipolar I think are very low. So I hope you can live your life and raise your children without worries.
Much of what we know about the genetic influence of clinical depression is based upon research that has been done with identical twins.
Causes of depression are: changes in the chemistry of the brain, serotonin and nor-epinephrine, family links in depression, stressful emotional situation.This is why some have concluded depression to be a genetic disorder a ‘disease’.
Genes influence a person’s predisposition to depression, but life events, stresses and lifestyle are other influences that often must be present before birth.Genetic link found in suicidal depression. A mix of biological and social triggers may cause people to take their lives.
Depression’s Genetic Link Scientists are closing in on a possible genetic component of depression. Genes in a particular region of a particular chromosome.
Research on the heredity of bipolar disorder within families shows that some individuals are more likely to develop the illness than others.
Your children may be 1.5 to 3 times more likely to develop the condition than those who do not have a close relative with the condition.Because close relatives of those with bipolar disorder have such a vulnerability to developing the condition themselves strongly suggests that it can be an inherited illness.
Only your doctor can give you a better answer.
I believe the odds are 1 in 5 to have bipolar, and 2 in 5 to have any mood disorder (including bipolar). I am pretty sure i remember that correctly. This trait does NOT run thru the male line, as one answerer thought was the case – it must have just randomly worked out that way in their family. The genetics of bipolar are very complicated. But genetics are not destiny – in identical twin studies, if one had bipolar, the other had a 60% chance of getting it. So stress or other environmental factors do have something to do with it. At least you are forewarned – if your kids get moody, you will deal with it sooner rather than later. In the old days, people just went untreated for years and wrecked their lives before they figured out something was wrong.
I am really interested in genetics and do have a science degree, so I’m pretty confident in my answer, but not positive I got the number right. I KNOW it’s not a 50% chance, though, far less than that.
my dad has it. my older brother doesnt. i have it. my little brother doesnt. I would say the chances of one of yout children may have some form of bipolar. IS this a big deal? kinda, the important thing is to find out early if you do have it
I would say not to worry too much. I am bp and only one of my 3 children has it. We recognized the symptoms early on and she is very well. If your 11 year old is not showing symptoms I would not worry. You really only have (according to statistics) a 12 % chance per child that you have of passing it on. Basically you end up with a 25 % chance of one of your children having it but a 75% chance of neither of them having it.
Generally if one parent has it the chances are 25% that a child will develop it, 50% if tboth parents have it. It is not all genetics. Genetics provide the possibility of becoming bipolar but it is not a sure thing. And Yes it can be carried through the "Male Line"! My mother’s family has no history of any mental illness but my FATHERS family has a rich history and I am bipolar 1, I have 1 brother who has major depression and one who is bipolar 2. It cvan be carried on both make and female genes.