Explaining Bipolar to a Child

How do bipolar parents explain things to their kids?

I'm thinking of primary school aged children with a parent with Bipolar II, in particular how to give them adequate vocabulary to talk about how it affects them, and also how to deal with for example being very irritable while having to look after them.

Are there other particular challenges I haven't thought of?

Are there any good books or other resources out there? Are there organisations who provide any help for kids growing up with a bipolar parent?

Only just beginning to think about this so feel free to point out the blindingly obvious

Hi Splodges,

This is something I'm going to be talking about with my therapist tomorrow. My daughter is in preschool and notices I'm a bit different, so I'd like to give her the right vocabulary to express what she sees and how it effects her. I'll be sure to let you know what she says tomorrow

That'd be great, thanks. What do you think your daughter notices? Do you make a habit of telling her how you feel?

Since you asked about books.. I know someone in my DBT group used "The Bipolar Bear Family" book as part of a conversation with her 1st grade daughter, and thought it was helpful.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bipolar-Bear- ... 1425929524

I told my sons when they were young teenagers, mostly because I didn't really know myself until later on. It was hard, but good too. When my youngest son began to experience mood swings and anger and was eventually diagnosed as bipolar too (two years ago at age 14), it helped knowing I understood. It also was really hard to come to terms that he got this from me.
I have a 9 year old daughter, and she doesn't know. I'll wait until she's older to tell- it can be a lot for a little kid to process, I think the decision to reveal depends on what they see and hear, and if you need to clear up why things are happening. I'm more stable now, than when my boys were little, and there is not the same need to tell her as there was to tell them. She just knows that my son and I have "polar bear" days.

Splodges wrote:That'd be great, thanks. What do you think your daughter notices? Do you make a habit of telling her how you feel?

When I said "tomorrow", I actually meant Monday. My brain glitched out

Most of the time I don't even know how I feel. She knows that crying usually means sadness and I'm not afraid of letting her see me cry. It's the weirder things that the mental illnesses make me do that need some explanation. There are times when I will get stuck in a flashback and talk to a memory like the person is actually there. It confuses my daughter because nobody is there, but I'm obviously talking to someone. Last time she went to where I was looking and said, "Where is she? Are you ok mommy?". So there's definitely some stuff to go over with my therapist because eventually I'll have to explain things better.

I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but maybe if you see a therapist this would be a good time to bring the child along and maybe with the therapist there he/she be able to help you explain it. Also, maybe sessions including you and your child to learn about Bipolar?