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You may often hear diabetes, asthma, cancer, rheumatism, as a hereditary disease. Now, what about bipolar disorder? Conditions that can make a sufferer's mood change drastically, are also included in the list of genetic diseases. So, is it true that the cause of bipolar disorder is hereditary?

Bipolar disorder is hereditary, really?

Sometimes they can be so happy that they laugh out loud, but after that they immediately feel sad, down, and even cry a little. This is a characteristic of people with bipolar disorder.

If so far the brain structure has been more frequently associated as the cause of bipolar disorder, it turns out that genetic influences passed on from the family also have a role in psychological conditions and changesmood the extreme.

Greg Simon, MD, a psychiatrist at Group Health Cooperative as well as a scientific advisor at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, revealed that someone with a family member who has bipolar disorder, has a risk of experiencing this psychiatric disorder.

This statement is also supported by a review from Neuroscience in 2009, which states that a person's chances of experiencing bipolar disorder can increase when they have close family members who also experience bipolar disorder.

Not just one, but many genes for bipolar disorder

Launching from the MD Web page, various studies have concluded that people who have bipolar disorder due to genetic factors have at least one close family member who also has depression or bipolar disorder.

Here, the researchers believe that there is not just one inherited gene for bipolar disorder. But there are many genes, where each of these genes has its own relationship with various other factors, such as stress, lifestyle, sleep patterns, and so on.

Even so, not all causes of bipolar disorder are passed down through genes in families. Only about a 60-80 percent chance of bipolar disorder is due to genetics. In short, Genetics is not the only factor causing bipolar disorder.

There are people who have bipolar disorder but it's not genetic. In fact, there are also people who do not experience bipolar disorder even though their family members have it.

In addition, there are other causes of bipolar disorder

As mentioned earlier, even though it has a pretty big chance, genetics is not the only cause of bipolar disorder. The following factors contribute to bipolar disorder:

Brain structure

The brain structure of people with bipolar disorder is usually different from most people in general. Physical changes, injuries, and other things related to brain function can more or less affect the structure of neurotransmitters or chemicals in the brain.

These changes then will easily affect the mood of a person with bipolar disorder.

The influence of the surrounding environment

Having experienced a traumatic event before, stress, or depression, can trigger bipolar disorder. Whether it's because of being fired from a job, the death of a loved one, a break in the household, or other life-shaking events.

In fact, bad daily habits, such as alcohol consumption, illegal drugs, and lack of sleep, are believed to be various things that can also trigger bipolar disorder.