I have recently observed that my kid nephew, age 7, is doing distinct things that I did as a kid that in hindsight I know are correlated to my bipolar brain. I have always been extremely curious if adults with bipolar typically show signs of the illness at an early age. There were many things I did as a kid in order to cope with my confusing and scary mind that my parents did not even question. I would love to hear if any of you had what you think could have been symptoms of early onset bipolar disorder and if so, what were they? 

Bipolar runs deep in my family. 3 second uncles and my great grandfather all committed suicide. Me, my brother and uncle have bipolar and now I am wondering if my nephew will also struggle with the illness. My nephew is exhibiting the traits I had as a kid especially with anxiety and fear of being left in a room alone. He seems to have a poor sense of direction when he shows signs of anxiety. I was the same way as a kid because I would experience altered perceptions of time and movement which caused fear and the need for physical contact with my parents in order to feel grounded. He has fear, even horror written on his face when his brother isn’t with him. When my nephews were in town last, his 9 year old brother said “he gets really scared when I’m not with him.” I just image he is scared because he needs to feel grounded like I used to be scared when my mind would suddenly alter on me. I would go into dream like states where my house would sometimes feel like a maze, that is the best I can describe it. I hate it so much for him because I think he is going though what I went through. I just hope so badly that he is not bipolar and won’t have to go through this illness but I’m pretty certain that he is. My bipolar uncle and I also have very similar childhood experiences with anxiety and being scared to be alone. Ironic because I love being alone now.

I would love to hear your experiences. I would assume not everyone shows signs as early as 5 years old like me and other family members but I just wonder if this is a common thing. I never personally experienced mania and depression probably at all or anywhere near like I do as an adult but when I look back, the things that I described seem to be the warning signs for the illness in my family. I would love to know how that varies from person to person or within families.