People who are genetically pre-disposotioned 'invite' the onset of Bipolar Disorder by having a good time.Without them knowing it.

I think it is both. I have genetid BP and so does my fther, but he becasue a drug addict to self medicate.

In the field I work in, it has been recently known to me that addicts can screw up thier brains to much (never having BP before) and suddenly developing BP.

Great question. I have pondered that quite a bit. All I know is that I diplayed BP symtoms as a child before drugs. Yet I believe the heavy drug and alcohol abuse was alot of self medicating and made the BP worse. I wish I would have known so much earlier in my life.

Plucks right on this one according to all the research. People have a predisposition to the illness. Then it requires a "trigger" to actually set it off...sometimes that's chemicals. This explains why only 74% of those with bipolar in identical twin studies both have it. The other has the predisposition and simply hasn't been triggered.

And, once the bipolar is there, many do self-medicate, especially before dx.

It can be both ways. Doing drugs can se off the bipolar and drugs can absed for self medicating.

Always wondered if i caused it or if was something I was born with.

Either way, bp is enough to deal with without blaming myself for it, so I quit askin

I think it can go either way. If using drugs causes you to become manic or depressed, you're usually diagnosed a subset of bipolar ( I think). But if you abuse drugs and you already had the bp gene lying dormant, it could exacerbate what is actually bp. Does this make sense?

BP runs in out family very thick! I think BPers run to drugs to self medicate, I did

My bp was full blown at the age of 4.

The reply by pluck hit the nail on the head.

I think BP leads to drug abuse, makes you more vulnerable. I was lucky as I just had a brief time with drug use and alcohol. I'm tempted to drink; drugs... way too scared because of my job.

I'm a classic example of drug abuse pushing me over the edge. But I felt this way all my life, which is possible also. My parents were uneducated and very poor. They could never afford to send me to a psychiatrist.

Plus, I was to bullheaded to believe that something was wrong with me and couldn't be explained with my bullshit ideas. I.E. Spritually damaged, etc.

I've read that drugs, abuse, trumatic experiences can all help in bringing out Schizophrenia. So why not Bipolar?

Like Meth abuse, it is obvious what it does to people after being on that drug for a long time. Give it time and there will be new names for this abuse.

I think people with a predisposition toward being Bipolar, will medicate themselves illegally, if they don't get medical intervention.

I was BP way before I started using drugs, I was 21 before I had pot, and found it was a way to numb my moods, I loved the uppers too if I was in a depression I was up then would crash big time.

I had a very abusive upbringing, and they think my mums dad had BP, he passed away when I was 1 from tropical disease from working up in Papua New Guniea.

Drugs were a huge escape for me, but the down ended up being more than they high :((

I became bipolar from years of every kind of abuse there is from my ex husband.