so the only thing i’ve ever wanted for my life is to have children. at least one. now, however, i am terrified of passing this b!@#h on to him/her. that would kill me. i never want anyone, especially not my own flesh and blood to feel like i do. not to mention the possibility of this b!@#h getting me one day and leaving my child without a mother. do you have children? advice? i want so much to be a mother.
I have two children both in their twenties. When I was first diagnosed with major depression the first thing I thought about were our children. I don’t know what I would ever do if my children were to be diagnosed with depression ~ other than love them for who they are and support them as only I can. Yet, deep down I would feel so responsible for their diagnosis.
Just five months ago I was diagnosed with bipolar. So now don’t I only worry about passing on depression but also bipolar. On a positive note medications, therapy, family support, and support groups such as the ones we have here are all beneficial in treating mental illnesses.
Hang in there. When you have children you will be ahead of the game, since you have an idea of what to look for. You also have lived through depression so you have a lot of first hand experience. Share that with your children and all will be ok.
yes, but you had children already. would you have chosen to have them, knowing you most likely would pass it on?
I"ve been living with depression just about my whole life, but wasn’t properly diagnosed until a few years ago. If I were to be starting over and knew that I had depression and/or bipolar I would choose to have children.
I can say that in honesty because prior to my diagnosis I just thought I was crazy. Now I have a diagnosis and am more aware of the information out there so I would be able to educate my children on warning signs and offer assistance in treatment. Plus I would be an excellent source of support and truly understand what they are going through.
Receiving that diagnosis after my children were in their teens I feared that I may have missed key warning signs that could have prevented our kids from feeling alone or different from others. Now that they are grown and on their own for the most part I feel I missed a great opportunity to properly inform them about mental illnesses.