What are my chances of inheriting this?

[jtapc101290]

What are the chances that I will develop Bipolar and what are the chances I will not? As far as I have been told, my maternal grandmother and mother have this among other mental issues. What are the signs and symptoms? Is there any way I can prevent this? If I were to get this, does it mean I am going to be doomed to a lifetime of medications?

[ryleighgirl]

I am a new diagnoses and was also very nervous as well.  Being on meds for the rest of your life is no different than a thyroid, blood pressure or birth control.  It is what it is and not a big deal.  Lots of highly successful people have it as well and live very wonderful lives.  It will be ok.  Chin up!  If you do get diagnosed, meds are the key....

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Well saying to cure it would be inaccurate since there is currently no way of curing mental illness.  It is more accurate to say making it go into remission.  Omega 3 fatty acids are supposed to help with mood and plus they're supposed to have quite a few other health benefits.  I would get a doctor's opinion first on whether you have a mental illness or not.  Unfortunately some people like me get to the point where we need the medications to be able to function.

[jtapc101290]

Yeah, that is what I am trying to do right now. Thanks for your response.

[jtapc101290]

Thanks, I appreciate your response. I don't think it is bad when other people take meds if they really need it. I just don't want to have to live the rest of my life on meds and depending on them if I were to contract the disorder. Are there any natural remedies that you may have heard of to help cure it? I don't think I have it yet but I wanna know what my options will be if I do contract it since my mother and grandmother both have been diagnosed with the disorder along with other mental disorders.

[Xila31]

I will say that when I was first asked if there was a history of bipolar in my family, I said no. However, in the months since my diagnosis I have been doing some research and bipolar is in the family of schizophrenia, which is why some people have psychotic episodes. Now, if you ask me if anyone in my family has schizophrenia, I will say yes because I have a 2nd cousin on my dad's side who has it. Now, that is not a super close relative, but that means it is in the family. If there are other people who have it, I don't know or they keep it quiet, but that makes 2 of us if I count people in my family.

But, my advise to you is not to dwell on it. Learn the symptoms of depression and mania. You can find them on the bipolar health page but they are all over the internet. The article here at medhelp is really good, though. Also, a lot of people with a lot of illnesses have to take medicine for the rest of their lives. That doesn't mean you're doomed or less of a person. Just be greatful if you need it because there have been times in history when mental illness meant real doom, like asylums and being locked away forever. We actually live in pretty good times to have these illnesses.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Well if you have relatives depending on how close to you they are genetics-wise and how strongly it runs in the family it becomes complex and impossible to write a figure in concrete terms.  I think though for everyone, even without a family history, it is 2% which would of course make your chances of not getting it 98%  You subtract from 100 with the percentile of a chance of getting something to figure out the chance of not getting it.  Basically, a person gets sped up (manic) and slowed down (depressed).  This is why it is called bipolar disorder, bi meaning two, and polar being another word for pole(s), such as the poles of the Earth or the poles of a magnet which are always opposite of each other.  I wouldn't think of taking medicine as being doomed, think of it more as taking medicine for a disorder so it goes into remission so it makes you able to function.