Bipolar or not??

[batwing]

My 12 yr old granddaughter was diagnosed a couple of yrs ago with ADHD and bipolar disorder. Just this past wkend she ran away from home at midnight after a bipolar "episode". Thankfully she was found fairly quickly. She is also suicidal and talks/writes a lot about wanting to die,the only way she'll ever be happy is if she's dead,etc.
BUT she behaves quite well at school and is very smart intellectually altho socially she's quite immature and has trouble relating to people in the proper way. I often wonder if she has a form of Asperger's. I keep hearing/reading that if she can behave in school,then she can't be truly bipolar and her behavior is just that....bad behavior. Please give me some thoughts and advice. THANKS!

[batwing]

Thanks so much for your comments,advice,etc. I can see some similarities in what some of you said. No,she doesn't have grandiose ideas or really weird ideas like thinking aliens are after her,etc. She does however have poor judgement,poor social skills and yes,there are problems in her home altho it was MY home she ran away from. She had ASKED to spend the night but then had trouble sleeping and got upset when she was told at 11:30 pm to put the DS away and go to sleep. To make a long story short....her family dr referred her to the mental health place she'd been going to (that hadn't helped her at all),they in turn referred her to a child psychiatrist and they all agreed that she should be placed in a mental health facility for adolescents for probably 3-7 days while they try to adjust her meds,talk to her,etc. So my daughter and I took her there yesterday. It's a very nice facility and I just pray they can help her.
Hey,Xila31, instead of being a world famous author,etc. why not write some articles about your experiences growing up and send them in to some of the family magazines.
You never know who you might be able to help that way. Again,thanks to all for your comments.

[Xila31]

Oh I should also mention that although I hated myself, I also believed that I was going to the world's most famous author, also the world's youngest published author, and win the nobel prize for liturature by the time I was 30. So, that's another thing to look for. Weird grandiose ideas in a child who wants to die.

Sadly, I'm a secretary instead.

Take her to a psychiatrist and take bipolar seriously, even if she doesn't have it. Stability is a good thing.

[dame_wilbur]

I agree with the comments above. I wouldn't discard the idea of her being bi-polar and dismiss her actions as bad behavior. By the time my sister was 12, she was writing suicide notes in her journal "for practice."

I would HIGHLY recommend, like ILADVOCATE said, seeing a child psychiatrist, and getting a good, professional diagnosis. Whether she's bi-polar or not, however, if she's running away, then there's something going on at home (since that is where she engages in this behavior) and there needs to be family therapy.

[ILADVOCATE]

I wouldn't say with everything that is happening that this is just a form of bad behavior. It really would take a conclusive diagnosis by a child psychiatrist but it doesn't sound like Asperger's as the extreme behavior seems more mood related. Best to speak to a child psychiatrist who has more knowledge and also in addition to medication talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy can often be of help. Perhaps there are some difficulties at home if she doesn't experience these problems at school so family therapy might be helpful in addition.

[Xila31]

Well, I can speak from experience. I'm pretty sure I either had major depression developing into bipolar or bipolar since I was a child. My first suicide attempt was at 12 years old. I was also having possible psychotic episodes since around 7-8 years old. Since I didn't have a psychiatrist at the time it is hard to say for sure, but my behavior was strange and my beliefs were irrational at best.

At 12 I was in 7th grade. I had one friend who was abusive to me emotionally. I did not relate to other kids at all. I was the outsider, the weirdo, the kid that was picked on a bullied because I was such a strange person. I would randomly tell people about the possible psychosis I was suffering from, such as being terrified that aliens were after me, etc. This didn't help matters with other 12 year old kids.

I was very emotional, showing lots of signs of poor judgement, and definately rebelling against my parents. But, I was a good kid and I never got into trouble at school other than being sick a lot and not wanting to go. I had too many absenses, being sick not ditching class. I did want to run away from home, too. I hated myself and my life and felt like I was from another planet. I was basically a C student although I could have been an honors student. I just didn't have the ability to try harder because of what was going on with an illness that was ignored by everyone around me. I just didn't care to try when I was struggling so badly within myself.

I struggled all the way through high school, went to community college for 4 years and then dropped out thanks to poor judgement. I always thought I was stupid and worthless. I was not diagnosed until I was 30, and now I can look back and see the havok my illness played on my life and how many barriers it put up for me; invisible barriers that I couldn't understand what they were or why I had so many problems doing what everyone else was doing. Now it all makes sense.