In a previous post I mentioned that I have bipolar II disorder and that is part of the reason that we decided not to parent. A reader asked if I thought that bipolar disorder should preclude any woman from parenting.

Bipolar disorder can be a difficult mental illness to treat and control, but it can be done through medication and therapy if necessary. For myself I only need medication, but others do need therapy to go with their medication. Bipolar disorder is a disease that consists of changing moods, from high, which is called hypomania in the case of bipolar II, to deep depressions that sometimes contain ideations of suicide. People with bipolar II disorder can also hear voices and have extreme paranoia.

Do I think that these things should preclude a woman from parenting? No I don’t. I think I would make a good mother now that my illness is under control. At the time we placed our son, my illness was not under control and I didn’t know about some of the resources that I now know about to help control my illness. I think that bipolar II can be controlled successfully through medication and therapy. If a woman is able to stay on her medications then there is no reason she shouldn’t parent.

Staying on medications can be a tricky thing for some people. One of the common things about those with bipolar II is when they are feeling better they decide they don’t need their medication anymore. It is of course the medication that makes us feel better, but sometimes in our minds that is hard to distinguish. Why do I stay on my meds? Because I have a partner that makes sure that I take them every day.

With the right treatment I believe that anyone with bipolar II can successfully parent. I believe that mental illness does not preclude a person from being successful at anything. I just believe it means that we need to take care of our mental illness so that we can be successful