***DISCLAIMER*** All information in this answer post is pure opinion, and not backed up with facts at all. Though I have done a bit of research, I have kinda come to my own conclusions on this topic.

I’m wondering if you were born bipolar or if it is something that you acquired over a period of time?  If it was acquired, do you remember the first time you experienced/realized that this condition was affecting your life?

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I actually DO believe you are born with Bipolar. (Not necessarily true, but all the things I’ve learned and experienced in my life lead me to believe that this is more than possible.)

I’ve even read articles that suggest this is possible. After doing a great deal of research, I found that stress during a pregnancy may cause a child to have mental or behavior problems as well as low birth weight.

I found this information extremely interesting as my pregnancy with my son was a cluster of stress. I was pregnant, separated, trying to make it on my own while staying healthy AND raising an 18 month old. Add in plenty of arguments and tears, anxiety about where I was going to live and how I was going to provide for my babies… I’m pretty sure the word “stress” would be a complete understatement.

And low and behold … my son …

Weight at Birth: 5lbs 12oz

Diagnosis:

ADHD

ODD

Bipolar Disorder

Anxiety Disorder

It’s hard to argue the facts sometimes. Still,  it was inevitable that one of my children would have some sort of behavioral ore mental problems, given my family’s, not to mention my own, history of mental disorders and studies being done to prove whether or not bipolar is genetic.

My Diagnosis:

ADHD

Anxiety Disorder

SAD

Bipolar Disorder

And I would bet, if ever tested for it, there’d be a bit of OCD in there too.

I’m going to take a wild guess, and maybe my family can confirm this, but I bet I was a fussy baby. I had a hard time making/keeping friends. I was socially inept. Over sensitive. Easily Stressed. Extremely intelligent though my school work did not always prove so.

I have great memories of large outbursts of anger…slamming doors. Even had my door taken off the hinges once.

I don’t doubt I was manipulative…actually one of my friends parents even pointed it out. And as far as I can remember back, I KNOW I’ve been moody and temperamental. I’ve even got stories from being as young as 5 to back this up.

I can also remember nights where no matter how hard I tried, I could not fall asleep. I’d stay up past 3am drawing and writing stories just to pass the time.

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but this is sounding a bit familiar, is it not?

We may not get diagnosed till we are adults, some even in their 50′s or older, but I bet (and this is a guess and there are no hard facts to back this up) each and everyone of you with bipolar who are reading this, if you looked back on your life and you were honest, really honest with yourself, you could probably point out symptoms of your illness possibly even all the way back to your childhood.

I know my son showed symptoms incredibly early. I knew there was something going on in his cute little head. But, having no concrete evidence to back it up, he was not diagnosed until he was 7. And had we not been seeing a PDoc with over 30ish years of experience with child psychiatry, we probably still wouldn’t have one!

In short, my answer to your question is: I think it is entirely possible!

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