What causes BP & Other Questions

I’m going with what I’ve read here, so I hope I don’t piss anyone off or anything with how I’m going to answer these questions. Well, really I don’t care :)

Question 1: do you think people are born bipolar, or does it just develop based on certain factors, like genetic ones, or trauma, or chemical imbalances, or environmental causes?

D- all of the above. Most people with bipolar disorder have it in their family somewhere. I’ve also read that if you are predisposed to having bipolar disorder, a lot of times it is set off by trauma or environmental causes. For me, I think puberty/divorce/remarriage/drugs/alcohol all played a part in making me crazy. I think it all started about age 12. I also read on about.com that The American Journal of Psychiatry reports "in those with bipolar disorder, two major areas of the brain contain 30 percent more cells that send signals to other brain cells." This report theorizes that "the extra signal-sending cells may lead to a kind of overstimulation, which makes sense considering the symptoms of bipolar disorder." Soooo…the chemical imbalance thing is mixed in there too.

Question 2: sometimes I think every single person has some degree of bipolarity in them. Do you think so, or has any of your reading and research indicated anything to support this?

I haven’t read anything to support that….but we all have mood swings. Ours are just waaaaayyy more severe and frequent. I think to be bipolar you have to have had at least one MAJOR bout of depression and mania. The severity usually means not being able to get out of bed, irritability, zoning out bigtime, bouncing off the walls, not sleeping for a long time, sometimes hearing or seeing things that aren’t there….most of the symptoms are things that most normal people don’t experience.

Question 3: do you think the tendency for bipolarity is an inherited one? Do you think anybody else in your immediate family has it?

Yes. I think the first question my NP asked me was who else in my family is bipolar. I think my dad may be, Im not sure. I don’t know much about his side of the family. On my mom’s side, there have been a few suicides. Depression runs on her side, most definitely. But as far as immediate family, my dad is the prime suspect.

Hope that kinda helps. Got any more questions? If anyone else wants to throw their 2 cents in, I'd love to hear it. My answers are just based on things Ive read and my own personal experience.