Is bipolar disorder a genetic disorder and Is it passed from parents to children?

Just about everything we know about Bipolar Disorder in genetics is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispo... If the page looks somewhat scary and technical, just read what does make sense - and more than half the page is references, so don't get scared off. Oh, this is the NIH's (National Institutes of Health) OMIM or Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man webpage. All the research on human genetic disorders that's done is online, freely accessible by anyone, on this website, which is a wonderful thing if you think about it. Good luck with your research.

i don't think that bipolar disorder is genetic because it truly all depends on how the child's brain developes

ITS GENETIC,it is posible to pass it to your kids but not always

You just answered your own question.

Maybe I dont know? It could be I have adhd and i got it from my mother.

so far no evidence to prove that......its a chemical imbalance, that is usually caused by environmental conditions

its not genetic...it has to do with a person's personality and how it is affected by their environment and brain development...it therefore cannot be passed onto offspring

yes its genetic and its usually passed on from the mother

I think it is because of a mother who is primarily left brained and a father who is primarily right brained. The mixture causes the children to be somewhere inbetween, putting them on the porder of schitzophrenia. This causes the paranoia and desire for control of life. Imagination(right brain) mixed with leadership(left brain)...paranoid control freak---Bipolar. Me...my sister...my borther...you do the math.

As of yet, it's undetermined whether it's genetic or not. There does seem to be a correlation between sibilings, parents, and children. That does not mean that it is proven. Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depressive Disorder is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Beyond that there is much that is unknown about this particular disorder.

There is no "official" documentation that bipolar disorder is genetic. But I am mildly bipolar and so is my paternal grandmother. Two of my three brothers are as well. Also my first cousin (on my fathers side) is severly bipolar. So in my opinion YES it is genetic.

Yes bi-polar is a genetic disorder if your father or mother had it you have a 17% chance of developing the illness. if they both had it it is somewhere in the fifties. but enviroment plays a big role to the more stress in your life the greater your risk developing the illness. and the worst the course of the disease.