While I'm not a parent, me and my girlfriend have spoken about this. Mental illness runs in both of our families (bipolar in mine, schizophrenia in hers) so we've had to ask ourselves, do we want to risk our kids having either one of these? We decided on yes, hopefully since she's had to deal with family members having schizophrenia and I being bipolar we would be better able to deal with anything that comes up for our kids. We'd be able to spot the early signs and get them the right help sooner without any of the stigma a lot of people get from their own close family.
As far as being a good parent while having bipolar goes, my mom has bipolar and she's had some issues with parenting. But my dad has always been there to help her when she makes a mistake or needs the support, or to hold her off when she's doing something wrong. She herself may not realize this, but I do not believe she'd have been able to raise any children on her own if she didn't have the help my dad gave her.
I don't have Bipolar Disorder but I have the next worst thing and I'm confused on whether I want kids because sometimes I want to have kids but at the same time I don't want them to have to possibly go through what I've been going through.
I am a mom and I say yes I would have my kids again. I love my kids so much. They are so important to me. Right now they are little and neither of them show any signs. Since they have two different dads, one has bipolar on both sides the other doesn't. But I would be there for either of them if it ever came to that. I know what it is to do it alone and I wouldn't let my kids do it alone the way I had to.
My husband and I have chosen not to have children because of our illnesses. He has cancer and I am bp. I would not wish this diagnosis on anyone, much less my own child.
This has been a very hard decision for us because we both love children. But we think it is for the best.
I am a mother of three children and i have chosen to have more. I just wish i would have got help along time ago. I had my first child at 14 years old and I put my kids through alot of rollercoasters. If I would have gotten help before I could have avoided alot of my impulsive moves I made as a teenager that affected my children. I love my kids alot and I wont say i wouldnt have had them but I wish I would have known along time ago I was bipolar. I think if one of my kids would be bipolar it would be easier for me to deal with because of my experiences..
I am 52 yrs old and was diagnosed with bp a year ago. I have five children and yes I would not trade them for anything. I lived on a rollercoaster for most of my life. I dont know how many times my mother sat in the emergancy room with my children while I was freaking out about one thing after another. I was diagnosed with anxiety/panic disorder, and post partum depression,But through it all my children are what actually held me together and kept me from falling completely apart. and yes I wish I had been diagnosed then but bp was not common back then , I really dont know if it was known, I think just schzophrenia.I think they had manic depression , but I was never seen by a tdoc. So my youngest daughter also has bp. Any way thats kind of how I ended up being diagnosed, her therapist said she felt i was bp and Then I started seeing a tdoc and was diagnosed. my daughter now has a 1 yr.old baby but we are more able to care for him now that we are working with several therapist, she sees one , I see one , and we see one together for family therapy along with her father, and Cps helps us also with counseling through them and also mhmr. So you can be bp and raise children , and be successful you just have to wont to. Good luck. capsule 1
I have Bipolar and I have four kids, I had my children before I knew I was Bipolar but I wouldnt change it for the world. My 9 Year old is showing early onset Bipolar and has been already diagnosed GAD ( generalised anxiety disorder ) she has sufferred and is still sufferring and this I find hard to cope with but I would not have not had her, when she is well she is a loveing fantastic little person. I hope that with my diagnosis she will gain help that no one else can offer her, I hope that she will actually be better than me not worse but I do fear that this will not be the case. No I wouldnt turn the clock back, yes I feel imense guilt at times and feel that I am to blame for her suffering but then i can take great pride also in the person she is under the illness bipolar or unipolar whichever it ends up being, its an illness, just like other illnesses.