is bi polar janetic through fathers?

[done_counting]

can bipolar be passed from granfather to son to daughter 3 genarations ? my 9 yr old is showing simptoms of bipolar, her grandad on her dads side had been diagnosed with bipolar & her father  was a heroin addict for years, in wich i think maybe that was his way of deeling with life, my daughter did not see her dad for nearly 1 yr & he died in june with septasemia through drugs, between myself freinds & family we braught her up with love respect, honesty & well every thing a child needs in life but she is so angry & verry challanging, allways has been, ive done a webster straton parenting course & between myself the school & now seeing a phiciatrist in 2 weeks, i have asked the phyc is its possable for her to have bipolar but she said she dosn't think so but its something to talk about, i'm at my witts end plaeas can you help?.
thanks xx

[SiberCats]

I also wonder if having other mental illnesses in the family can also cause a genetic disposition to bipolar.  My father had depression and my brother has a social anxiety disorder. Does anyone else have family members with other mental illnesses but not bipolar?

[horselover65]

You could safely say is that there is at least a strong genetic predisposition if not an outright determining gene. Personally, I'm a firm believer that it is hereditary but that doesn't mean it's unavoidable, just highly likely. In my family, it's all right there. It goes back generations. My sister and I are both bipolar. Genetically, we are half-sisters. We share a mother and, bingo, that's the side of the family with so much bipolar. My uncle has children who are bipolar, too. You go up from there to great uncles, etc. It can also pop up in families where it hasn't been seen before or at least not in anyone's memory.

I hope that your daughter responds to treatment. It may not be bipolar and at her age, a good professional is going to get to know her a little while. I would be dubious if someone diagnosed a child too quickly, so let things unfold. There could be any number of things in her life that she's internalized from very early on that could have affected her. Some may be things you aren't aware she knows or saw or heard, etc. There may also be experiences that were kept secret.  

Losing her father is probably a tremendous blow, regardless of their relationship. I'd say it was likely even worse because she hadn't seen him in so long and she may feel guilty about that, whether she admits it or not and whether it's rational or not. I lost my dad in my mid-30s, but things from my childhood (that I thought were resolved) could have happened only days before and keep coming up again. I would guess this is a very hard time for her, whether she is conscious of it or not. I wouldn't be surprised if she was feeling a lot of anger and abandonment, so acting out even more wouldn't be surprising. Especially if she tries to maintain a cool exterior, that emotional heat has to come out somewhere and it may come out inappropriately and be directed at innocents - or those she may be testing, like you. I hope things work out and there is some improvement. I echo LCC - It is great you're helping her. It's hard to see your child in pain and gets very frustrating, so having patience and waiting to see what happens will be a trial. My mom used to think she was the one who'd end up losing her mind. You could be at the beginning of a long road, but it might be that good short-term counselling is all that's needed. Short-term still might not mean "short", but it's not lifelong management.

I also wanted to say that with children, just like with adults, success in therapy is dependent on the patient's desire and participation. I say this because I started therapy at about the same age as your daughter and did have a fair amount of success in some areas, but we eventually hit a wall and started trying medications. However, my sister has also been in therapy intermittently since earlier in childhood and often has refused to participate - to the point of spending entire sessions without speaking. You can imagine how therapeutic that was. I hope very much that your daughter has a good, open relationship and trusts her psychologist. It's so important that they communicate and that she feels she can be honest - and that she wants to be in this process. Just wanted to mention that because I did not see anything about whether your daughter had seen a counsellor at school before or what she thought about seeing someone, etc.

Best wishes. Hope you'll let us know how it is going later on.

[LeftCoastChick]

There are some schools of thought that think it's mostly attributed to genetics, but not all. My birth family had no history of it at all. There are differences between BP brains and non BP brains done by tests in PET/CAT scans, it could be cause by in-utero stress, too much caffeine, alcohol consumption - these are things they are studying as causation. I do know my birth mother had a history of drinking, though it's not clear if she drank while carrying me, though I'm pretty sure she did. Some folks may carry some low level for a majority of their lives and it may not show fully, some have a traumatic even which could trigger the onset. Having a Bipolar descendant doesn't automatically mean you or your child will get it.  Kids will act out if they are under some sort of stress, kids don't have the ability to explain their emotions until well into their teens. I wouldn't jump the gun and assume she is BP yet, hang on and wait for a few visits with the new psychiatrist. Whatever she is going through, it's great you are helping her.

[ILADVOCATE]

Yes they are finding bipolar is inherited. In my family certainly although I have schizoaffective (which has the bipolar aspect though). Its very common for bipolar to run through generations. Yes that must be a terrible experience you describe. I feel very bad for you. But as for your daughter whether she has bipolar is something that can be decided by a child psychiatrist. Right now she definitely needs talk therapy and support and if they see something else is wrong they can look into it.

[hell1971]

Hang in there and just remember your daughter needs you more than ever, yes is it genetic, this doesnt mean the next generation will get it, it just means she has a genetic predisposition and given the right triggers and stressors it can trigger the illness. Getting her help from a phsc doc is the best thing you can do for her, i know how hard this is, I have bipolar 2 and my 8 year old is now after 8 years of trying to find out whats wrong appears to be showing symptoms of a mood disorder. Just remember that you still need to have boundries with understanding, this is how I have managed. Good luck with your appointment.