I am wondering if anyone knows of any studies that link childhood abuse, especially sexual abuse, to a dx of Bipolar.
Steph

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Steph

I think it is possible but from what I have read Borderline personality is more common w/ childhood abuse. The symptoms for BP & BPD are alot alike!

best of luck
Jen

Hey there...I have wondered the same thing myself. See this abstract. I believe it is okay for me to post an abstract here because it is not copyrighted material:

Bipolar Disorders
Volume 2 Issue 2 Page 131 - June 2000
doi:10.1034/j.1399-5618.2000.020206.x


Relationship of childhood physical and sexual abuse to adult bipolar disorder
Mina Hyun, Seth D Friedman and David L Dunner

Objectives: To characterize whether adult depressives with either bipolar or unipolar disorder differ in the prevalence of childhood sexual or physical abuse.

Method: The investigators reviewed data from patients who were evaluated over a 2-year period by a semi-structured clinical interview. In total, 333 cases with a bipolar or unipolar diagnosis were included in the present study.

Results: A childhood history of abuse, in particular sexual abuse, was significantly more frequent in bipolar subjects compared with unipolar subjects. Consistent with previous studies, women reported higher rates of sexual abuse than men, although no interaction by diagnosis was shown. Sexual abuse incidence in male samples was markedly dissimilar, with male bipolar subjects demonstrating a significantly increased rate of sexual abuse and combined sexual and physical abuse compared with unipolar male subjects.

Conclusion: The increased incidence of sexual abuse in women supports growing evidence of gender differences in sexual abuse among adult depressives. In contrast to literature reports, the finding that male bipolar patients have significantly increased rates of sexual abuse histories suggests differences in psychiatric depressive subgroups. This result may reflect the particular characteristics of our cohort (treatment resistant, privately insured, and educated). Further work will aid in characterizing sexual abuse prevalence in other male bipolar samples.

Oops. I realize it looks like this study is mostly about males.

I think there is something to this sex abuse and women with bp, I don't know very many men if any that have it (but I know they are out there)
I beleive that when I was abused like that, that something happened to my brain. Its kinda like people who have gone to war and saw bad s**t happen. It is like something in your head changes so that you can survive for the time being. then after you get away from the situation you could never be the same.
I do kinda beleive that bp people are special in some ways. the emotional and other IQ seem amplified, these people are like sponges all the time absorbing so much more from every situation or interaction. I know because this is how I am. going to send this so my computer doesnt lose it. more-

For example if someone that I am close with says "lets not talk about that it makes you sad", All I am thinking is why? is life supposed to always be pleasent? how would we know sad and happy if only one mood were possible. I like that I can feel so much, I get something out of just about everything I do, every single way I feel. sometimes it is over analitical but that is an experiance that helps me to think and maybe lead to other thoughts that may be of relevent importance.
Why would so many people engage in this experiment called life if it were for nothing, we are supposed to explore our minds while we are on earth. I cannot go without thinking speaking or beleiving, I would not want to be here if those things did not exsist. sometimes I see my condidtion is a gift I payed too much for. J

Since Bipolar Disorder is a chemical imbalance, I'm thinking that it is more likely that the STRESS of sexual abuse can trigger the onset of Bipolar Disorder rather than be the cause.
Also, there are many disorders that can be caused directly by sexual abuse: Post traumatic stress syndrome, dissociative disorder, multiple personality disorder (which can all have other reasons for appearing).
A Great Topic for disussion!!

I think that the original discussion was referring to the sexual abuse of children, rather than the hypersexuality (acting out) that is common during the manic phase of many Bipolars.
Yes?

I'm not budging on the fact that no matter how hypersexual a child is, any adult who uses them is guilty of abuse. Legally, morally & ethically.
If a child has a mental illness and an adult takes advantage of them? That's worse in my book... :mad:

this warrants a new thread:hypersexuality in childhood in the absence of sexual abuse???
tell me more....
i had vivid aggressive sexual dreams 5 years before hitting puberty, but is this a bp thing or is it normal?
I dunno, its not the sort of thing that usually pops up in conversation.

so is it a bp thing d'ya think, or just society failing to acknowledge reality...
my 4 year old has a huge crush on a little boy in her class. totally obsessed , is even changing from a packed lunch to school dinners to be with him more. cute. but i don't think that's sexual....

LOL. I can honestly say that i have never wanted to have "relations" with either parent. sigmund freud was impotent in his later years (maybe he used up all his "go's" he had a lot of kids...
it always comes back to sex doesn't it.
lets see if there is any topic which we can't twist round to sex somehow or other!!
start a thread on hot air balloons or death or the baby eating bishop of Bath and Wells and see how long it takes for ben and sarnie to get an innuendoe in....god, imake myself cross!

I suffered from (and I mean SUFFERED) hypersexuality as a child. Even at 7 or 8 I was interested in, if not obsessed with my friends sex organs and such. I had many elaborate fantasies concerning both friends of my own age and adults which were definitely not normal. Due to this attitude with my friends when I was so young, I certainly alienated many of them. I think this problem is a hallmark of childhood BP and is another reason why I think the subject of sex needs to be brought up with BP patients in whatever context.

well, i don't think i had it as bad as you elf man.
though my husband (who is very normal) says that at around 8 years old he and his sister discovered that they could get a "nice feeling" if they climbed up and slid down ropes in particular way. so maybe everyone, even the normals are more sexually aware at a younger age than they care to admit.

well, i don't think i had it as bad as you elf man.
though my husband (who is very normal) says that at around 8 years old he and his sister discovered that they could get a "nice feeling" if they climbed up and slid down ropes in particular way. so maybe everyone, even the normals are more sexually aware at a younger age than they care to admit.

Well, yes, of course it is normal for children to have a sexually pleasurable feeling, but there is a big difference between sliding down a rope when you're seven and trying to achieve penetration with a partner when you're seven!

who with?
i promise I'm going to bed in a minute....(its gone midnight)
this is fascinating..

well you two had much bigger problems than me with childhood hypersexuality. mine was only in my mind, in daydreaming situations and bedtime. Though I did deliberately lose my viginity (unable to control myself any longer) lsix months or so before starting my menstrual periods. Body wasn't physically ready, bad move..
cricket pavillion as I remember...

who with?
i promise I'm going to bed in a minute....
this is fascinating..

Please.....I'll have to draw the line there...

sorry, didn't mean to push you too far.
i just don't know when to stop.

its something I am going to have to address.

gee thanks ben,
i feel even more of a **** now.
I can't get anything right.
I feel like a child who has been chastised.

will try harder. who knows one day i might be as wise as hoosier.

I was hoping to be warned I was going OTT before I overstepped the mark. Not to be berated after the event. Never mind, I'll get over it. Problem no. 1 is that it takes me so long to get over these things, I shall be hurting for days now. Like when I couldn't get that riddle, I was brooding for days. PATHETIC !

i am so pissed off. With myself, not you. Every time I find something interesting I act like an over-excited puppy dog ( except I don't pee on the carpet). I say the wrong thing, clumsily and don't even realise I could be upsetting anyone until its too late. I always manage to get someone's back up. Not on pupose, just because I don't know when to stop. I want to join in a conversation when I should shut up just coz its interesting and I want to be included. Childish and selfish and makes me hate myself.

I'm not certain its a bp thing either, I think I'm just plain old fashioned tactless (like my father was). How to I learn to pull back a little. ????
help me out here. Ben , hoosier , steve the elf ?????
anyone else out there who has even a limited amount of tact and diplomacy??? :confused:

My dearest thoyts of all time.. Isn't it just the pits that the very traits that make us bipolar are not only common to us all, but very RECOGNIZABLE to us all!!!

I think the problem is that some of us almost need TWO boards. One for information sharing like these were obviously designed to be, and another for chatting, being companionable, and carrying on conversations with each other. I'm fine with this one, but I've never been into the internet chat stuff to begin with, and don't feel comfortable adding outside flirtation to my marriage. (I know, everyone say it together... "Stick in the Mud!!!")

We can all still share our experiences, lives, and (numerous) shared bipolar problems - but maybe it takes away from people who are coming here for serious help to read some of our rowdier threads??

We're just being bipolar, manic, etc.
Maybe we just need to branch out on our own for the personal relationships???
(a small voice pleads... please don't flame me... please don't flame me....)
:eek:

ben,
you weren't over chastising, I'm just over sensitive.
It always hurts more when its the truth.

Thanks for bothering to reply.
hoosier I don't like chat rooms. They move too fast for me and I can't keep track of whats going on (i AM too old after all).
This time I wasn't flirting (or at least Iwasn't intending to). two men is enough for any woman ( ;) ). any way I don't flirt with just anyone, they have to be welll, I am not going to go there. someone's ego is huge enough already !...well okay, exceptionally intelligent. In fact since I married my husband I haven't flirted with anyone at all. its not something i make a habit of these days. sometimes i guess the old lightening bolt just gets ya.

this time I just said the wrong thing. I recon it might partly have been a bit of a misunderstanding:
I was talking about sex stuff with ben and steve the elf when I said something along the lines of "must go to bed now, this is fascinating". It was gone midnight here, but early after noon in USA. I thinbk steve__ might have thought I was getting off on it... I was genuinely just ready for bed.
I edited my text to include the time, but he'd already run away. Poor guy.

None of this alters the fact that I HAVE to find a way to keep myself from getting over excited (mentally). Having an official dx helps me identify the problems but doesn't help me address them.
I don't wanna piss people off all the time.

I think I will start a thread on self control. Whaddayathink??
hoosier......you NEVER say the wrong thing, at least not here, how do you do it?

hmmm, hope steve isn't too hurt.....
STEVE? you out there?
The "who with" was addressed to Ben.

I think I know how to prevent more dumb comments (well, at least some). I shall just slow down. I am in such a hurry to get my thoughts out that i just type and post. I shall edit every post like I would if I was dealing with someone who was suicidal.

i never have too much trouble with taboos, I never (very rarely) find it hard to open up about things. at least, not at this level. on a very deep emotional level maybe, but certainly not at the general discussion level.
I really am much worse with people than I had realised. I never considered that it might be hard for someone to talk about things here.

I shall post a sorry, to steve.
will you forgive me to Ben.
I will try to be more sensitive.

[QUOTE=2SarniesShort]hmmm, hope steve isn't too hurt.....
STEVE? you out there?
The "who with" was addressed to Ben.

No, I was not offended at all. Although I did think it was addressed to me, I didn't worry about it; I just wasn't answering the inquiry. I didn't respond further, because I didn't want to turn this tread into an internet chat session and so I thought I would just leave it at that. ;)

good. I'm glad you weren't offended.

so I have been racked with guilt without good reason?....HA HA! that'll teach me.

still it has probably taught me a valuable lesson.
penny. :)