p21. Mamas don’t let your babies grow up with bipolar parents…
disclaimer: this is based on generalities as it relates to our experiences, there is nothing scientific about the following, just general thoughts and observations.
This is certainly a sensitive issue, especially after a young mother to be visits and speaks with affirmation about this site. A lot of extremely young mothers are bipolar, I am speaking about the ones you might consider in a “crisis” pregnancy, the ones that go to clinics to solve a problem.
One of the biggie “hypers” in mania is sexuality. When Da was in 7th grade we had a psychiatrist in the hospital just bluntly come out and tell us that we need to face the fact that our kid was a walking vibrator and will be hanging with the bottom feeders for awhile – unfortunately this proved true. I am not saying this is true for all young adults with bipolar disorder, but it has certainly been one of our experiences and it has been for a long, long time.
Because of this I tend to pay attention to adults who are bipolar or my peers who were raised by a bipolar parent. I am sad to say I haven’t heard many good things. Let’s face it to imagine Ward or June going off their medication and hitting the streets for a manic, wild night is really hard to see, but these good people, if affected with this disorder could do just that.
Have you ever thought back to kids you knew in school who was, well shall we say, a bit loose? Have you ever wandered why? Was it just self-esteem issues or did they have a deeper medical reason?
Many babies who are put up for adoption can have a bipolar mother - it just fits the profile. So how does the parent of a bipolar child cope with the thought of their child having a baby?
My husband keeps asking me what I think we should do when we retire… you know things like stay in our house now, move to a golf course, travel… he’ll say “so what do you see us doing?” I am afraid my response is not the greatest - it is just simply –
“Raising Da’s children”.
Now that we know so much more, shouldn’t there be better answers or better information? If you have something you could tell me, I would really appreciate you sharing!
This is certainly a sensitive issue, especially after a young mother to be visits and speaks with affirmation about this site. A lot of extremely young mothers are bipolar, I am speaking about the ones you might consider in a “crisis” pregnancy, the ones that go to clinics to solve a problem.
One of the biggie “hypers” in mania is sexuality. When Da was in 7th grade we had a psychiatrist in the hospital just bluntly come out and tell us that we need to face the fact that our kid was a walking vibrator and will be hanging with the bottom feeders for awhile – unfortunately this proved true. I am not saying this is true for all young adults with bipolar disorder, but it has certainly been one of our experiences and it has been for a long, long time.
Because of this I tend to pay attention to adults who are bipolar or my peers who were raised by a bipolar parent. I am sad to say I haven’t heard many good things. Let’s face it to imagine Ward or June going off their medication and hitting the streets for a manic, wild night is really hard to see, but these good people, if affected with this disorder could do just that.
Have you ever thought back to kids you knew in school who was, well shall we say, a bit loose? Have you ever wandered why? Was it just self-esteem issues or did they have a deeper medical reason?
Many babies who are put up for adoption can have a bipolar mother - it just fits the profile. So how does the parent of a bipolar child cope with the thought of their child having a baby?
My husband keeps asking me what I think we should do when we retire… you know things like stay in our house now, move to a golf course, travel… he’ll say “so what do you see us doing?” I am afraid my response is not the greatest - it is just simply –
“Raising Da’s children”.
Now that we know so much more, shouldn’t there be better answers or better information? If you have something you could tell me, I would really appreciate you sharing!
posted by ewschott at Sunday, August 14, 2005
8 comments
