If I have children will they be bi-polar too?

I've always wanted to have kids. In fact I always planned to have kids long before now but life doesn't always run to a timetable.

Like most other big decisions in life, the thought of having kids scares me.

If I have children will they be bipolar too?
The psychiatrist said that if I were not bipolar, there would be about a 1% chance that I would have a child who was bipolar anyway. As I am bipolar, although it does not appear to be strongly hereditary in my family, the chance rises to about 4%. That's still pretty low.

I haven't read any studies or statistics on the subject other than those given to me by my psychiatrist.

If I did have children and they were bipolar, would it really be a big deal?
I've turned out okay, pretty much. However, I was quite hard work as a kid. There may have been many factors involved in this and being bipolar could well have been one of them. Oppositional behaviour is supposed to be one of the early signs of being bipolar.

I worry that I might be too inclined to read things into my kid's behaviour. If I thought they were bipolar, is there anything that could or should be done about it?

Then there's me. Will I be able to cope with being pregnant? Last time I was pregnant I was constantly anxious. I was sick all the time, probably more due to anxiety than morning sickness, then I miscarried. I think the anxiety probably played a large part in that, although it may just have been one of those thing that was always going to happen. It took me a long time to get over.

If I managed to get pregnant and if the pregnancy went full term, would I suffer from postnatal depression?

As far as I know the chances are higher, although at least I might have the advantage of recognising what is happening.

Even if everything else went ok, would I be a fit mother? If I had some kind of breakdown what would happen to my kids? Even if I didn't, would my mood swings be too much for them to cope with, and would they be worse with sleepness nights.

And then there is the constant worrying. I used to look after children as a job, and although I think I was quite good at it, I think I can worry a bit too much some of the time and be overly cautious and overprotective.

Then again, nobody knows if they will be a fit parent, nor how their kids will turn out, or if they will be one of the unlucky ones who gets postnatal depression.

Week commencing 10/07/06

Medication: Roman chamomile, 3mg Valium
Exercise: 9 hrs
Alcohol: 7
Anxiety: Low
Anxiety Level (0-10): 0.5
Number of Panic Attacks: 0
Severity of Panic Attack (0-5): 0
Depression: Full of the joys of summer.
Depression Level (0-5): 0
Mania: A bit hyper.
Mania Level (0-5): 2

Summary

A good week of being outdoors at lot. Climbed a couple of big hills and swam in the sea several times. Feeling pretty good.