Is bipolar disorder something you are born with?!
Question: I was wondering if bipolar disorder is a condition you are born with, or if it is developed over time and circumstances? Once someone is diagnosed as being bipolar, do they ever fully "recover" or stop having symptoms?
Thank you!
Answers: I was wondering if bipolar disorder is a condition you are born with, or if it is developed over time and circumstances? Once someone is diagnosed as being bipolar, do they ever fully "recover" or stop having symptoms?
Thank you!
Some people are born pre disposed to bipolar, those with a family history having a higher incidence or chance of developing it. Stressful events, pregnancy and illness can be present at the onset of symptoms and help 'launch' a bipolar episode. The above can also aggravate the condition once it has been diagnosed.
Most recent research indicates that its actually a biochemical imbalance in the brain and there is no 'cure' as yet, though the disorder is treatable with a regime of therapy and maintenance medication. The condition is life long, so it is likely a person will require medication and therapy for the rest of their life, but to be adjusted as circumstances require.
The mental condition of a sufferer with the illness will fluctuate over time, but again, the illness is manageable with proper and timely medical treatment, a good diet, proper sleep and avoidance of episode triggers and highly stressful situations.
Bipolar is something you are born with, and something you die with. It is controllable with meds and therapy but it cannot be "cured" like a cold or pneumonia could.
(I have heard of some people that swear it can be "overcome" and that you can be "cured" but honestly, that claim comes almost exclusively from bipolar people in a manic phase. No offense meant to anyone.)
It is a chemical imbalance in the brain, just as depression and other illnesses (obviously with differing imbalances.) You are born with it and it stays with you the rest of your life. It may lurk beneath the surface until you reach your late teens or early twenties, but it has been there the whole time. Symptoms may disappear for awhile, but they will inevitably come back; the imbalance never goes away. Medications help stabilize the condition, and can alleviate many things, but as someone else said, you are born with it and you die with it, as much of a pain in the a** it is.
Well Im not Bi Polar or in a manic phase. I think it is both. Some people have a predisposition for disease because genetic markers. BUT also some people are completely allergic to their enviroment from stress and the things they eat. ... I have known several people that have gone off their meds because of mineral therapy and getting rid of processed and sugary foods. It is amazing to see when it happens.
www.truehope.com
I live w/someone who has bi-polar and from after 6 years this is what I know. 1- there have been 5 family members with it going back 2 generations. 2- They never seem to totally recover from it, but with proper medications, can be able to control it. There seems to be no really signal when an episode is going to rear its ugly self again. Each case seems to be unique to itself.