Yes

by Patricia Burke

Created on: April 18, 2012

Whether bipolar parents should have children is insulting to a bipolar person. Even in this day there is discrimination against those having mental disorders. As it turns out those getting treatment are no different than you or I. They are able to take care of others. They can live a stable lifestyle more in this day and age than ever before. Many people cringe at the mention of bipolar disorder which is hard to understand, since there are many mental disorders in our world.

It is understandable one would fear a couple, both being bipolar, having a child. That is from lack of understanding. Years ago there was not a lot, doctors could do for bipolar disorder except give one medication that was so strong it would keep them drowsy. It is not that way today.

Many people are able to hold down a job without anyone even knowing they are bipolar. If one continues to take their medication they will more than likely stay in a stable condition. There are circumstances, such as stress, that can cause the symptoms to be out of control. At the first sign of a change in one’s emotions, see the physician. It is better to make a trip to the office than to allow your disorder to become out of control.

It is advisable to let someone in your family or friend circle know that you are bipolar. If they happen to notice one being overly hyper they might realize your were on a high where as you might not realize it. There are many ways to keep your disease under control. Your family and friends love you and will be more than willing to watch out for any symptoms of depression or

Many bipolar patients have committed suicide. Most everyone who kills themselves have stopped taking their medications. Usually that person either feels so much better they think they can stop or they want to drink or do pills, which one cannot do while taking medications for this disorder. It is unlikely that anyone in this day would think they could stop their medication and be okay since it is a lifetime disease just as arthritis or diabetes are. It seems more likely that one would have more of a will to live if they had a family to come home to rather than being alone as so many bipolar people.

There are people in this world that could possibly be your neighbor and be bipolar. One might not even know that, but maybe think that person is just very quiet or think that they may just keep to themselves. The other name for bipolar disorder is manic-depressive illness. It can be severe at times and other times very mild. It is a disorder that causes one, at times to be energetic and extremely elated and other times they may feel very depressed. They are sad tending to have a lot of negative thinking.

Bipolar disorder is less common than depression. According to the  Microsoft Encarda 2006, the rate of suicide for bipolar disorder is about the same as that for major depression, which is the most severe form of depression.

There are indications that many creative people have bipolar disorder. Poets, writers, even actors and actresses. Some of which have families. Out of those, there was one family that seemed to take an unusual hit from the disorder. There were 4 suicides in the family of Ernest Hemingway family. It seems that people with this disease are very talented and intelligent. I do believe that families like Hemingways are in the minority as far as suicides and family members.

There is a very interesting chart showing the brain activity of a person with  Bipolar Disorder.  There are positron emission tomography scans of the brain of someone bipolar showing the shifting from depression to the mania state of mind. You can see and read about that here.  This shows the activity that goes on in the brain by using different colors.

There are always going to be people that believe that those who have illnesses, especially mental illnesses, should not have children. It is not 100% that your child would be bipolar. But as in any situation, there is that chance. This writer, whose husband had the disorder, had 3 children. One of those children was born bipolar. No one knows that unless he tells them. Most people think he is a little shy and a bit nervous. That is the way he appears.

This man has helped to babysit his niece and nephew all of their life while their parents worked. A very capable man. The key to this is to stay on the medication the doctor prescribes. If that medication makes you sleep more than you like or not enough, speak up to your doctor. If one cannot speak up, because of feeling intimidated, have a friend or family member come along and speak as your advocate, asking your doctor about other options.

There are always options in this day and age for those who want to be able to lead a normal life. It may not be normal by someone elses standards but what is normal for one is not always normal for another. There is new hope now for quite a few of the mental disorders that use to hold one back and stop one from doing what others could do. Now there are choices.

Many different therapies in use that can help to shorten or prevent the extreme moods that can be caused by bipolar disorder. Lithium carbonate, which is a natural mineral salt can help control the moods. This is an older drug, not used as much as it used to be; but if the newer drugs do not bring results some doctors still use lithium. 20 to 40 % of people will not respond to the lithium. For those people there are some anticonvulsant medications that may help to lessen the severity of the manic episodes. Tegretol and Depakene are two of those. As you can see, there are many choices to help those with bipolar disorder to live as close to a normal life as possible. It is the opinion of this writer that if one wants a family, being bipolar should not be the reason to stop them.

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