Question:
First off I must say that I greatly admire you and the work
you have devoted your life to.
I’ve known my husband since we
were 15 years old. We're now 26 and have been married for
almost 2 years, and have been together and living together for
3-4 years. He was, for lack of a better term, a complete
wreck. When he was 17-18 he got diagnosed with bipolar
disorder, and the BPD when he was 19. He had a pretty extreme
case of it too. He has been on Tegretol for a number of years
now and has finally been living a healthy, stable, productive
life (a life that he is actually enjoying) and we have a great
relationship, something that felt like would never happen.
When I was 19, I was diagnosed with having mild anxiety and
mild obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. We’re quite a
duo aren’t we? I'm not on any medication. We both want
children and are considering getting pregnant. Now, my
question is, how truly high of a risk would our baby have of
developing the BPD or any of the other disorders I’ve
mentioned?
I have a bachelor’s in psychology and am now in
graduate school working on a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, so
I know a bit about this sort of thing. I just want your
personal opinion. It’s always been my belief that although
both have significant influence on a person, when it comes
down to it, genetics outweighs environment.
What do you think?
Dr. Heller's Answer:
While genetics clearly can play a role, genetics as the
only role is very unusual in my experience. ADHD,
psychological trauma or head injuries are usually also
present.
I wouldn’t discourage someone with the BPD from
having a child, however I’d make sure that both parents
take their medication during and after the pregnancy and
they do everything possible to ensure a loving, caring
environment for the child. Ongoing counseling, reading
motivational and spiritual books, doing affirmations, etc.
are all important to reduce that risk.
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