Fortunately, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder no longer has to equal a life of loneliness and isolation. When treated effectively, people suffering from this often-misunderstood mental illness can lead as normal and full a life as anyone else. They can have successful careers, loving relationships and—yes—they can even raise healthy, well-adjusted children. The key here is treatment.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating episodes of depression and mania. Several types of bipolar disorder have been identified, which vary in their severity of symptoms. Severe mood swings can certainly affect the bipolar person's ability to function at work and within a family setting.
Unfortunately, getting the right treatment for bipolar disorder isn’t always easy because symptoms typically appear many years before the illness is actually diagnosed, and even then it’s not uncommon for this disorder to be misdiagnosed. If a woman with undiagnosed bipolar disorder were to become a mother, it could significantly affect her ability to be a good parent. People with untreated bipolar disorder can be impulsive and even suicidal. Without treatment, a mother with bipolar disorder could potentially put her child in danger during a manic or depressive episode, whether through unclear thinking or sheer neglect.
With that said, when bipolar women—and men for that matter—learn to effectively manage their illness, they not only have the potential to make good parents, but in fact they can make great guardians. In truth, they probably have the potential to make better parents than a lot of non-bipolar mothers and fathers out there, because mental illness is but a single issue affecting the quality of one’s parenting.
Proper management of bipolar disorder typically means learning to track one’s moods and symptoms and taking the right combination of medications. A mental health care professional can help patients with bipolar disorder learn to prevent episodes and deal with their symptoms and the stigma of having a mental illness.
However, even when their disorder is properly managed, bipolar parents do face a few other issues relevant to the decision to have children. For starters, most—if not all—of the medications prescribed to help treat this disorder can lead to birth defects if the patient becomes pregnant. This creates a difficult situation, especially in cases of severe bipolar disorder. Discontinuing medication could put the well-being of the mother at risk and possibly affect her ability to effectively care for her newborn child; however, the risks of birth defects may be too great to constitute taking her medications during the whole of her pregnancy.
No real solution to this problem exists. If a woman with bipolar disorder does decide to stop taking her medications in order to carry a child, it’s very important that a professional carefully monitor her moods throughout her pregnancy. She may also need extra support from her family and friends during this difficult time.
Another factor to consider is the possibility that bipolar disorder is—at least in part—thought to be a genetic disorder. Thus, a parent with bipolar disorder runs the risk of passing this serious mental illness onto his or her child. Does this mean that women with bipolar disorder should not have children? Absolutely not. It’s simply a matter of personal choice. A woman who has her disorder under control and is functioning well within society may not hesitate to bring a child into this world. It’s not even a certainty that her child will be bipolar, and if it is, she should be well-equipped to detect early warning signs and help her offspring learn to manage his or her illness.
As you can see, such decisions are quite difficult. But every parent has obstacles that ought to be considered before deciding whether to bring a child into this world. Someone suffering from bipolar disorder may just have a few more things to think about than most.