Does Anyone Know If Bipolar Disorder and Postpartum Depression Are Hereditary?

Hereditary? No definitive research there, but both are heritable... meaning that the behavioral patterns tend to run in families. Mental health is tough to track b/c there are no medical tests that can be done and most information is historical and anecdotal.

No way to tell if this woman is suffering from bipolar based on the information presented. She would need a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation that included an extensive personal and social history. Could be a lot of things... or just a pattern of making poor choices.

Bipolar and Schizophrenia both run in my family, but not in my immediate family, I was never in contact with my relatives that suffered from it. My severe postpartum was really the result of my BP2 going undiagnosed for many years. I had severe mood swings and depression from the time I was 8yo. Basically, the hormonal changes and added stress of a pregnancy and birth/breastfeeding caused my dopamine levels to be erratic, which caused me to fall into deep depressions which sometimes presented as severe sadness--to the point of melancholia- but also anger and irritability. It wasn't until I stopped trying SSRIs and started taking Welbutrin that my brain chemistry leveled out and left me feeling "normal" again, I also take a low dose antianxiety med for the roughest times. I refused to be medicated during pregnancy, which left me without that kind of help for 10 years. It was only 2 years ago that I was properly diagnosed, BP2 is a new diagnosis, it is different from BP1 in that I suffer from hypomania, not true mania, and only when under a lot of stress. SSRIs don't work with BP2, as it's not a serotonin problem, it's a dopamine problem.
Hypomania causes you to be a risk taker ("drive fast, take chances") when under stress, heavy drinking and using drugs to try to "numb the pain", people with this also are promiscuous and have difficulty maintaining healthy relationships.

In my experience (I belong to a bipolar support group), those who go unmedicated and without proper counseling are doomed to repeat the same behaviors over and over again. I was lucky enough to have a great deal of family support and access to free mental health care through a local agency. Both have helped me to live a relatively normal life, even during the bad years. It sounds like your husband's ex needs proper medical care and to be on the appropriate meds, which unfortunately differ from person to person and can require frequent adjustments to find the right ones. This process can be frustrating, to say the least.

Much love to you all.

I got a private consult with one of the countries experts on Bipolar and such after a tragedy. He said it is hereditary, but not everyone gets it. He also said drug and alcohol use worsen the effects.
I have inlaws with Bipolar. It is so hard to deal with. I thought with my background and education, I could not let it affect me or stress me out.
I was wrong about that. They can make drama out of thin air and suck everyone in.
Protect the kids. Protect yourself.

My ex DH is probably a bipolar but I don't have a real diagnosys for him, it's a guess. I made sure my son lives with me so he's not exposed to it as I fear he can catch on his bad behaviors, he sees his father when we both go visit and when my ex comes to visit us but being together for holidays is way different (in a positive way) from actually living with the nut-head. All I can say is that people with these kinds of issues are very unreliable and with their risky behavior can be dangerous for themselves and for others. They can pass on sexual diseases for example. It's sad that kids are exposed so much to their sick mother behavior..hereditary or not it's the example in the house that steers children one way or the other while growing up. An emotionally unstable home is very damaging. If the dad noticed the children are having problem, he could document the mom's behavior and try and ask for full custody. If you are willing to accept these poor children in your family, that is. She having numerous live in boyfriends alone would be a deal-breaker for me as a co-parent, I would definitely ask for full.

I believe PPD is not genetic, although depression itself tends to run in families, as does Bi-Polar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder is definately hereditary, I am not sure about postpartum. I would think that having several different live in boyfriends or any kind of boyfriend could be a sign of bipolar because it is hard for other people to put up with the mood swings and relationships fall apart.....sounds like she needs to get some proffessional help!!

post partum is not hereditary. though there are certain things that can make it easier for you to have it. there is no hard proof evidence that any mental illness can be passed down but there are studies showing that you are more likely to get certain ilnesses if a family member has it. bipolar is one of them. but u can also be bipolar with no family history

A friend of mine told me that she was recently diagnosed as bipolar. She had a major (hospitalized) case of ppd after her daughter was born 2 years ago. It took until this year to get a bipolar diagnosis. She was told that it can be passed on. She blames her mom for not telling her but I told her that her mom may not have known. Her mom kept to herself, never participating in any parent acitivies when we were growing up. She would go from laughing to just a plain stoic appearance. Unfortunately my friend has decided that she wants nothing to do with her mom even though she has reached out to her. Mom last saw her granddaughter at her 1st birthday.

post partum has to do with hormones... other types of disorders are hereditary.. like bi polar .. he should watch his children for these signs.. and get them help... if they live with her.. he should see about them coming to be with him more.. good luck

Bipolar definately can be hereditary.

I work on a special needs school bus and have found out that a lot of mental illnesses are hereditary. My maternal grandmother suffered from depression and would go to bed for weeks, my mother is in denial of her having mental illness, and my middle son has a few problems and I ask him why he is so grouchy and unhappy but he can not explain it. I know people with bi-polar do things very erratically and do not use the best judgment sometimes.

for something to be considered heriditary it needs to have a 25% chance of the off spring getting it. So, in the case of your husband and his daughter, if the mother has it, the daughter would need to have a 25% of receiving it also. if it is not a 1/4 chance, then it is just considered a genetic predisposition.

Now, speaking in terms of bipolar disorder, it is considered a predisposition. However, it is rare to see it coming out in a child that young. It is more likely that she is imitating behaviors that she is seeing from her mother. much like how kids want to wear high heels if they moms wears them, or will yell at passing cars if their mom or dad has a tendency to yell if they are cut off.

As far as post-partum, or even just the numerous bfs, or being quick to anger. that can all be explained just by a chemical imbalance for her body. Which can be caused by a lot of things, not just bi-polar disorder. it could also simply be that she is very unhappy with herself. Sometimes people are just unhappy with themselves and their life, so they tend to buy lots of clothes, go through fast relationships, or even rearrange their furniture a lot in an attempt to try to control their surroundings.