how much dose family have to do

and her sister tried to kill herself twice and the brother did. my mom was a drunk I was a drug addit

my dad says he dont know anything about his family for he said he was not around them much.

my mom says she dont think Iam bp but she also said there was not much in her famly so how much dose there have to be for her to say theres somthing wrong?

if having illness in your family has any pull on if I would then thats scarey

Bipolar is hereditary, but doesn't strike every member in every family.

I read somewhere once that if one or both parents suffer from depression a child has a 50% chance of developing bipolar. I wish I could find the link.

It's been found even that an addictive personality is genetic - so, I guess, why wouldn't bipolar be?

In my family on my mother's side everyone has some sort of mental health thing - my mom, grandmother & grandfather were all alcoholics as well as some of my mom's aunts and uncles. My mom's sisters and my mom herself have all had anxiety and depression problems.

On my Dad's side, my dad, his mom, and all of my Dad's siblings (4) have had problems with depression. I have an aunt that was treated with electro-shock therapy at one time. My Dad and my Aunt have both had drug & alcohol issues.

hm, so I think as far as mental health goes - if one family member has had issues with it, even distantly in the past - it's going to show itself in other members down the line.

As far as what your mom says - it's up to a professional to decide, and what feels true to you to decide whether or not you have bipolar. Get a second opinion if you don't feel comfortable with the 1st. I've encountered many people in my life who have said, "you don't seem like you have bipolar or like the type of person to have bipolar." I think everyone imagines the worst possible outcome of what bipolar can be, sees me and says "naah, not her."

Except that yeah, it is me. I know it's me. I know when I'm sitting there waking up and I can't even drag myself out of bed when the morning before I was up three hours before my alarm went off. I know when I can be laughing and joking one minute and the next minute snapping at someone over nothing. It's all about what's true to you.

Yes mental health diseases do exist (just trying to cover my bases here), but a lot of people choose to ignore their diagnoses and live their life with what they believe to be "under control."

Remember, it's only in the last 50 years or so that people stopped being put into homes and hospitals permanently because of their mental health disorders and that people have started experimenting with WHY these diseases and disorders exist. In many cases, people were often sent to hospitals, drugged to the hilt, thought to be lost causes and forgotten. It was only in the 1950's when doctors realized lobotomies were effective only in a third of the patients, and only in the 1970's where laws were passed banning these surgeries. In the mean time, there's a stigma attached to having these disorders - it's going to take many more years and mental health advocates to change perception.

I was yelling at my friend in the health insurance industry about how my co-pay for mental health services is higher, and limited to 45 visits a year. Also, my deductibles for in-patient and out-patient care are higher for reasons pertaining to mental health. I always think taking care of one's mental health is integral to taking care of the physical self. How is it possible that insurance companies don't see the link between mental and physical health? *shrugs*

Also symptoms vary from person to person, so just because previous relatives may have committed suicide or behaved in one way or another doesn't mean you will. YOu are your own person and you still have control over the actions that you take. Never believe anything else.

Be well.