This is a pretty serious topic and some people might even find it controversial, or unnerving. But it's been on my mind a bit lately. Actually, it's been niggling in the back of my head ever since I learned that bipolar is a largely genetic illness. At one stage I even gave up the idea of having kids completely. This wasn't the only reason, as I had a partner at the time who didn't want to have children anyway.

I just gotta make it clear that if a bipolar person has kids, it's far from guaranteed the child will have bipolar. The chances are only a few percent if the "other half" has a family tree without any mental health issues. Where the problems can get serious is when both sides have mental illness in their family trees.

My present girlfriend wants to be a Mum one day. And she'd make a really great mum I have no doubt. We love each other and everything's pretty good. But she has some close relatives who have struggled with depression related illnesses. This is an Asian family though so they don't exactly like to talk about it or seek help, so as far as I know only the cousin has been diagnosed. She has a sister who has a chaotic lifestyle and who has had some really bizarre behaviours surface from time to time, and who is known to walk out of her job and become a hermit for weeks on end, not answering her phone or talking to anyone. Also, her late father was killed while in his mid-20's. That's all I know. Whether it was crime related, wrong place / wrong time or self-inflicted I don't know. But they don't talk about it. Buddhists, like other religions, believe killing one's self is a sin ... so if that's what happened I doubt anyone would talk about it.

Do you think it's selfish for people with mental health issues to have kids even if they're treated and capable of raising kids and making a good house?

I have read and heard from various people that bi-polar is a very broad term and that many doctors use this diagnosis initially for their patients when they are not exactly sure what the actual problem is.

I would recommend several professional opinons on this.

As far as having children, I would personally be more concerned with the drugs that some doctors prescibe for bp like SSRI's, etc. than I would having a child after being diagosed w/ bp alone. Just my opinion......

I bet ya' 50 cents (jk) that there would be way less kids born if every adult that had received a diag. of bp didn't have children!

Sh, more than half the people I have personally known that got benzos and one or more AD drugs from a psychiatrist have reveived the diagnosis of BP!

By the way, does this topic have anything to do with taking Suboxone? Just curious....

Boxer,

This is the Miscellaneous section.....People can post about whatever they want here.

TeeJay,

I think it shows maturity to even think about this. Alot of couples get pregnant accidentally and just go for it.

I dont think it would.be selfish for a couple in your situation to have kids. If you are being treated and are stable on meds, I dont see a problem. In fact, you may be in a better position to have kids because you have gotten so much treatment and know alot about behavior. You know how to set boundaries and how to take care of yourself. You like to learn and teach others. I think you would be a great dad!

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I have been on suboxone 2.5 years and take 4mg once daily. I love my sub and plan to be on it for two more years.

Awww shucks ... thanks orange doll. Part of me was hoping this thread would fade away unnoticed. I should be so lucky. Maybe that night I had some cold feet over my clucky partner. I kinda woke up the next day regretting this thread.

Anyway boxer I hear what you're saying about bipolar. It definitely is a label that's thrown around carelessly. The condition itself, when properly diagnosed, is actually pretty serious. It is the most fatal mental health diagnosis around. However, unlike schizophrenia which is quite polarising - once you become psychotic it's pretty obvious there's a problem - conditions like bipolar 2 seem to have more of a spectrum going on. Bipolar 1 (my diagnosis) is the classical form, and is only diagnosed when there's symptoms of psychosis, delusions / hallucinations etc in the form of mania. And when that happens, it's pretty obvious you're sick. Some people with bipolar one end up getting labelled with schizophrenia, simply because the doctor doesn't can't notice the difference between a manic psychosis and a schizophreniform psychosis.

Something that does annoy me is when celebrities get labelled bipolar to get some kinda "get outta jail free" card. Where I'm from, this guy Matthew Newton who's just a spoilt asshole seems to get outta trouble by pulling out the bipolar card. "I hit the concierge because I'm bipolar" etc. All of the sudden people conclude that people with bipolar are "dangerous", or that it's some bullshit diagnosis that doesn't mean anything that people use to get outta trouble. Then the next time he goes to court over something, he claims it was the "bipolar medicine" that messed with his head, and now he's feeling so much better after rehab got him off his medications. WTF? A violent asshole is a violent asshole, whether or not they have bipolar.

Anyway...