An illustration of the word "cause" being written in large in the middle of the picture, with the word "effect" being written all around it.

What causes bipolar disorder?

There’s no single cause, but it likely stems from a mix of biological, psychological, and environmental factors:

  1. Genetics

If a parent or sibling has bipolar disorder, your risk increases.

  1. Brain structure/function

Differences in neurotransmitters and brain circuits regulating emotion and impulse control.

  1. Stress/trauma

Major life stressors, childhood trauma, or substance abuse can trigger episodes.

A large twin study estimates the heritability to be as high as 60–85% for bipolar disorder.

Join our forum and Facebook

Please consider joining our forum and Facebook if you enjoyed reading this and would like to chat with like-minded peers about anything depression related.

It would certainly go a long way toward making my dream of creating a thriving, supportive community a reality!

Back to blog overview