Parents with Bipolar 1?

[gemsnroses]

Have a parent with Bipolar 1?  I do, and I would like to connect with others.  My mother has Bipolar 1 with psychotic features, dx at the age of 48, now 66 yrs old.  I believe she has struggled with it her whole life, I know I can remember her having psychotic episodes when I was as young as 5-6 years of age.  I learned to hide her behavior very well, but I'm glad she finally got her dx when I was in my teens, it's still a challenge very single day for the both of us (and also for my family), it's like I am the parent and she is the child.  She's been in and out of mental hospitals since her dx, she seems to have bigger and long lasting episodes each time, and I'm pretty much alone on this.  Anyone else?

[gemsnroses]

I sent you a personal msg Mandy, hope I didn't scare you away lol.  Cat, thats rough, I understand how it is.  I know dx of Schizophrenia can be mistaken for a Bipolar dx and vs versa since they do have similar symptoms.  My mom was 1st dx with Schizophrenia and then it was changed to Bipolar 1 which I feel is now correct.  My grandma might have had it, and my sister in my op has features of Bipolar..

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I believe it's bipolar disorder I that nearly everyone on my father's side of the family has because they go into full blown episodes of mania if I'm not mistaken.  My father had the rapid cycling version of the disorder.  There are two exceptions however, one person has schizoaffective disorder and the other has schizophrenia, which the latter was what I ended up with but then the same gene that causes bipolar disorder also causes those two.

[gemsnroses]

Thank you for reply!   I will msg when i get home from work.

[mandapanda928]

I have a mom that is diagnosed with bipolar one and has been in and out of mental hospitals i feel your pain and struggle, It sometimes gets out of control, really all you can do is love them and enjoy the time you spend with them , and i feel you on the "you being the mom" it seems that's how it works. My mom once threw a razor at me with i was in the bathtub , and pulled a gun out infront of me and my baby sister, i got scared thinking she was going to shoot us , so i got infront of my baby sister, RIGHT AWAY. But she said, wtf I would never shoot my children , i was going to shoot my husbands mom, I looked her in her eyes and said mom put it down, your okay, nothing is going to happen just put it down, And she did. There is really hard times, but people with this disorder need a lot of help. From family i believe not from institutions or anything like that, just be there and give advice and always check on her make sure shes taking her meds, If you feel shes having a breakdown look into her eyes usually from that you can tell, that's how i could tell with my mom. And it's easy sometimes to talk them through it, i've done it plenty of times, she just needs reassurance that she is ok , and that nothing is wrong with her. Don't be a mom , but be a tough daughter. It's hard, but we only have one life mine as well do everything we can for the ones we love. Hope some of this helps. If you ever need someone to talk to message me, I'm sorry for what your going through.