Cause Of BiPolar (BP)/Other Mood Disorders In Children

W

Wonderful Family

Guest
Biased sample I'm sure; but I'm amazed at the number of children that appear to be adopted; not all to be sure; but a high number none the less. Obviously, children wouldn't be released for adoption without extenuating circumstances - which leads to the higher incidence rates!
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
difficult children' grandparents adopted their son (difficult children' bio dad) when he was 14 days old.
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She quit her job on the spot to be a stay at home mom. They had waited for him for almost 10 years, unable to conceive. They devoted their lives to him. She ended up pregnant and within 7 years, had 2 more biological sons.
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What they know of his birth family is that his mother was a college student, and his father a construction worker in his mid-20's. His father's father died around age 40.
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By the time difficult children' bio dad was 4, bio dad's mother returned to work because of him - she couldn't stay home with him anymore. He was a basket case, hyper, wild, out of control. It was blamed on her parenting - she was too strict, not strict enuf, loved him too much, didn't love him enuf, babied him too much, expected to much of him, etc etc etc. Most docs told her to take parenting classes, ask her mom to help her, and give him 40 acres, he'll run it off. Needless to say, it didn't work. Bio dad is 40 years old and lives in his parents' barn, drives a broken down truck and occassionaly works odd jobs, but mostly is unemployed. Gets fired as often as not.
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difficult child 1 was an unplanned pregnancy between bio dad and a 17 year old high school dropout/runaway/alcoholic. She was a last fling before he left for boot camp. When she found out she was pregnant, she moved in with bio dad's parents. Stayed there til difficult child 1 was about 14-16 months old and they kicked her out for repeated pot use. From that point on, difficult child 1 lived here and there. She wasn't a terrible mother, but wasn't a good one, either. She drank, used drugs, tricked to pay for her habits. difficult child 1 spent until he was 3.5-4 witnessing that. While difficult child 1's behaviors aren't as extreme as bio dad and wee difficult child, the root behaviors are very similar. And he's perfectly capable of equally alarming extremes - he just doesn't stay in that extreme state all the time.
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difficult child 2 was also not planned, but his dad and I were married. His dad was cheating on me, and I was actually getting ducks in a row to divorce his dad when I found out I was pregnant, so the pregnancy was not stress-free. However, I had a good job, I knew I could take care of myself and the kids, etc. I stayed home for 2 months when he was born before I returned to work. After the run-in with dad not caring for him, he had a stable babysitter, a family member, and was the center of our lives.
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I am told wee difficult child is a cookie cutter of his bio dad.
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Three very different scenarios for raising these 3 boys, and yet, at the age of 6, all are carbon copies of each other. The one link being bio dad.
 

change

New Member
To add to your research, my daughter's 2 bio brothers were not raised in the same homes at all and are about 4 years apart. My son repeated the same horrible pattern of severe conduct disorder type behavior that his brother began at a very early age also according to CPS records. I have no idea where his brother is now. Last I heard, he was still in foster care and labeled unadoptable and that was a long time ago. I shudder to think what has happened since then. He would be about 18 now. I do think there might be some truth to the genetic theory based on my experience and also things that have gone on in my own family but I also feel like it goes hand-in-hand with things like "a person's core being" and "wanting to break the cycle" and environmental factors...also based on my own experience.
 

klmno

Active Member
I wonder if the high rate of adoption (statisticly) is due to one or both bio parents having untreated mental/mood disorders. My son is not adopted but anxiety and depression run in my family. I'm not sure about his bio-dad, since he didn't hang around, but I'm wondering and thinking his genes contributed here, too. Anyway, my point was that so far in my family, we have all been able to function with our issues and lead somewhat normal, if still dysfunctional (LOL), lives. If, on the other hand, I had untreated BP1, I can't say I would be in a position financially, mentally, or otherwise, to have raised my son myself.
 

amazeofgrace

A maze of Grace - that about sums it up
Mental Health issues on both sides of my difficult child's family tree (Bi-polar, depression, paranoid skitzophrenia sp)

difficult child I. (17) was born 2 weeks late, naturally, at 5lbs 14 ounces, after 18 hours of labor. He was jaundice, but healthy. infant/toddler years, he had anemia, was allergic to cow's milk, drank soy formula and never made it on to the weight charts for his age range, not even sure if does now. He also was and still is always sick, and has allergies and mild asthma.

difficult child II (11) was born 2 weeks late, naturally, 9 lbs 5 ounces, after 8 hours of labor. breast fed him until 9 months old and went straight to cow's milk. At the top of the weight chart for his age, was and is very rarely sick, some ear infections when he was a baby/toddler that's it.
 
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