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I'm beginning to think that Bipolar (as well as many other mental illness labels) are not actually hereditary, in the usual sense. I think that they can result from bad parenting, and then in turn, we become bad parents so the cycle continues, and thus appears to be hereditary. Even if they could identify a chemical imbalance, we know that a chemical imbalance can be caused by mood. It does not have to be mood causing the chemical imbalance. Here's a recent example:

I was on Cipralex (an antidepressant that also supposedly helps with anxiety) a few weeks ago. It made me feel drowsy, depressed and generally pretty crappy. So I was about to have a coffee to wake myself up. Then I checked my e-mails, got a horrible threat from my ex (a common occurrence) and instead of wanting caffeine, I was totally wired in about 5 seconds flat. Then I went and got my tranquilizers. The idea of caffeine went completely out the window and went in the opposite direction, just as a result of my change in mood!

So, yes I believe in chemical imbalances, but I don't necessarily think they are hereditary in the genetic sense, I think we simply may not have been brought up to regulate our emotions properly as we had no role model. Does this make sense to anybody?

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I have been focussing on triggers lately. Never gave the word much thought before seeing the warnings on this site (ie: label stuff "may trigger" when needed). I think I may have unfortunately "triggered" my big brother a couple of hours ago. Never tell a 450 pound man about your eating problems 20 years ago. My bringing up how I ate a bag of "day old donuts" in two days only reminded him of how he would (still) eat them in two hours! BTW, day old donuts are sold by the dozen up here. I fear he may take a midnight drive to the donut store now:mad: I also think we have to be careful about what threads we read here. If we can feel less alone and more understood, great. But the second something gives us the urge to go do something bad for ourselves, I think it's time to stop reading.

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Guest ASchwartz

Hi Sedsed and All,

I'm a little late anwering your question about Bipolar vs. Schizophrenia. In actuality, a person can have Bipolar and Schizophrenia at the same time. In fact, there is a name for it: Schizoaffective Disorder.

Hope this helps.

Allan

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