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The Chances Of Inheriting Bipolar Disorder

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If manic depression or bipolar has a history in your families genetic line, you may want to know what the chances are for your risks of inheritance. It is in fact a hereditary disorder, however, the chances of inheriting can usually be determined by how many family members in a family have a definitive diagnosis.

Having only a single family member, a parent for example, would put you at only a slight risk. This would be about a 10% chance for risk of inheritance. This can also mean just the opposite; meaning that there is a 90% chance that you will not inherit the disorder. It would be a rarity, but if you were born in to a family with two bipolar parents, your risks would be slightly increased to approximately 50% for risk of inheritance. In some cases, such as a child adoption, a person may be unaware of their families' medical history. If a sibling is known, and has a diagnosis of bipolar, the approximate risk of inheriting is 20%. If there is no history locatable in the families genetics, the overall general risk is very small, at only about 1%. This is not a sexist disorder, as it affects men and women at about equal rates. It is very uncommon for someone that has been diagnosed to have no one else in the family that also have the disorder.

The illness generally needs agitators to contribute to progression. Such includes, being overly stressed, drugs and/or alcohol being used, and living in a stressful or overly active environment. Certain agitators normally make bipolar disorder more severe. The best scenario would be to keep bipolar sufferers out of stressful environments or situations. This will enable them to keep better control of their moods and symptoms. Symptoms of bipolar disorder should be monitered and documented daily. Although there are many studies that are always being done on the subject, as of now bipolar has no cure. Treatment will be for a lifetime, but can be brought under great control if the patient follows the doctor's orders as directed.