is my 7 year old bipolar???

Question

my  7 year old s moods are up and down all of the time.  She hates to hear no, and often goes into rages.  she spits, swears, bites, throws things.  She has sleep disturbances, (waking up angry ,yelling at me ) but can not remember this in the morning.  I have to sleep in her room with her or she panics, cries and has a fit.  When ever anything goes wrong, or not her way she says that it is "your fault" (meaning me).    I have spoke to her teacher who says that she behaves well at school, she is a bit shy, but alwys well behaved.  This is what makes me question if she is bipolar or not. please someone help. i have a dr's appointment tomorrow , but I would like some insight from someone who knows first hand.

calithor · Answer

Actually it is not all that rare...especially if it runs in the family (diagnosed or not). And along with bipolar it very possibly could be ODD...oppositional defiant disorder. I am dealing with the same problems

karems · Answer

hi
for a little one, you might want to look at what foods he is having that contain additives / perservatives.  They can run havoc on moods.
They do for adults, can you imagine what they do to someone so much smaller!

even 'health' foods, you need to check - anything in a packet.

kchianne · Answer

I know this is an old post, but I am having the same problem with my 7 year old son!!! I don't know what to do! Did the doctor ever say what was going on????? my email is ***@****. I would love to talk about this. I am so worried for my son!!

whirlygirl1717 · Answer

Thank You so much for your kind  words and advice. I am trying so hard to get my bipolar under control and I am trying to approach my daughter's situation with all the understanding and patience in the world. But I must admit that sometime's it is hard...very hard. I left my husband out of some kind of bipolar episode back in Feb. an deven though we are trying to reconcile, it is slow going because I hurt him so badly, so right now I am  living with my dad, who does not even believe bipolar exsists, so you can only imagine how hard that makes things...he thinks that I am only lazy and that my daughter is only a brat...*sigh* but I believe we will get through this..somehow... I just worry about the toll it is taking on my boys! Thanks again for your support!!

newday11 · Answer

you need to really help your self first if you want your little daughter to get better. I'm saying this to you with lot's of love.
you need to remember how all of this started developing inside of you at a young age and maybe one of your parents or (both )caused something to trigger your emotions perhaps one of them might of suffer from BP. I'm glad your other children are okay this should make it easier for you to take care of you so and daughter. you can help your daughter  feel better maybe she is the out spoken one,the one that is reflecting on your issues ,the closest one to your heart. 
also make sure that you don't tell her that something is wrong with her since it isn't fair for her to grow up feeling this way. you should also consider therapy.  therapy can be better than medicine since all people that get on with medicine try to get out of it later on , and because after a few months, year,or years medication could cause very dangerous side effects .
 medicine and medical science has proven over and over to admitting to have had been wrong in the past over their treatment procedures changing their minds over and over again so (medical treatment of the 21st century might believe now to be right on their psychological treatment procedures but tomorrow to be discover to have been seriously damaging and change their understanding )
be calm love,patient and understanding get therapy and be honest with your self so your children can learn this good quality from you.(who knows what you've been through)
.... god bless
all my love

hell1971 · Answer

I am BPII as well, I did not get diagnosed until my daughter had her major episode two years ago and I became so sick with worry for her I had a major episode exagerated by the use of antidepressants ( un diagnosed at that point ) my daughter has had problems since birth, from uncontrollable crying etc.., exagerated tantrums that would last hours, the first time she said she wanted to kill herself was when she was only 5 because she became so distressed about going on school camp, even though her nana was going with her. I was convinced 2 years ago when I knew it could not just be anxiety, I started researching and came across bipolar, once I read everything I did about it I knew if fitted her behaviours and cycles, the doctors dismissed me I became so depressed I took the anti depressant, became manic and then was diagnosed. I thought it was radiculas, here I was saying look my daughter has bipolar and here they are saying you have bipolar. 2 years later alot of therapy for my daughter and regular visits with a pdoc and now they are saying it is highly likley she has bipolar but as I have said above are still reluctant to diagnose her. My doctor on the other hand is convinced my daughter has bipolar and doesnt understand why they are messing around, I guess from my point of view she is now being treated as if she were bipolar and is on a mood stabiliser that has helped, they are checking her levels as they think she may need an increase to help further. Looking back I showed my first signs at 14years old when I tried to overdose, I have for 37 years never gone for help for my own depression and perhaps if I had things would have been more straight forward in diagnosing my daughter but I am driven by the fact that my daughter expresses suicidal thoughts many times when sick and I want to ensure we have this undercontrol before she becomes a teenager and life gets hard enough. I also feel that she is loosing her childhood as this consumes her life and that makes me very sad, all you want for your children is for them to be happy, I have 3 other children that do not have problems like my daughter. take care from one parent to another, you are not alone.

whirlygirl1717 · Answer

Hi,  I am having almost identical problems with my daughter who just turned 5, and as a student of psychology, and all the research I have done for my daughter, I can tell you that no, it is not too early for her to be showing signs of bipolar disease...it is horrible but true, the problem is there is alot of controversy about it so you may have trouble finding her help, I know I have...we think my daughter showed her first signs at 2 1/2 when for no reason we can see she pulled all the hair out of her head, we even took her to Yale University Child Study Team and they could not figure it out. I am bipolar 2, and so is my brother. I didn't not show symptoms until after I broke my back in five places at 16, but my brother showed signs as early as 2 1/2 also. I will pray that your daughter and mine will be ok but if they are not that they can get the help they need. I wish you all the luck in the world and my heart truly goes out to you, I know what a toll it takes on you personally as well, it is making my bipolar spin out of control!

newday11 · Answer

remember she could be embarrassed or not know what abuse really is since she is so young
they are different type of abuse and also children can delete memories if they want to only to a certain extent.
be calm and god or perhaps just let me say good bless

lillith6 · Answer

thanks everyone for your insigth; i go to the drs today to discuss the matter.  I have tried asking her if anyone is abusing her,m and she has said no.  I am going to get the dr to send us to a psych and see if we can get to the bottom of it.  i just want my little girl to be happy :(

hell1971 · Answer

Not every child with problems is being abused, do you know how many times I have had to go through the traumer of someone questioning whether my daughter has been abused. I have no problem with this because there are children out there who have experienced such pain and distress but there are better ways to say it than you have above, in caps this is shouting on the internet on not nessersary.

newday11 · Answer

MAYBE YOUR DOUGHTER IS BEING ABUSED BY SOMEONE ASK HER TAKE HER TO THERAPHY

hell1971 · Answer

Sorry forgot one massively important thing, look after yourself or you will be no help to your child, when my daughter had her worst ever episode 2 years ago, I became so obsessed with finding out what was wrong with her I ended up ill myself and I am still not recoverred ( long story ) but it is important, it can be very challenging dealing with a child like this and you need to get some restbite to recharge your batteries and also try not to worry to much about it and take one day at a time. good luck

hell1971 · Answer

Bipolar in children is very complex and not as easily diagnosed, my daughter is now 10 and has been going to child mental health professionals off and on since she was 4. She was first diagnosed with GAD ( generalised anxiety disorder ) over the years it became clear that there was much more to her behaviour and strange ways and symptoms than just an anxiety disorder, she is now being treated for bipolar but they are still reluctant to rubber stamp the diagnosis. We were at the doctors yesterday and they have said it is highly likely and probable she has bipolar but that at her age it is not an easy diagnosis. We just have to see how she responds to the treatment and see how things develope as to what extent it will effect her future. She is highly likely to require medical intervention long term and that they dio not beleive that they can cure her problems but hopefully they will be able to help us teach her ways to manage her life. My daughter has many many symptoms and problems but she also has very clear periods of normality with very little problems, no two bipolar people are the same and the way the illness effects the individual is different although saying that there are some key combinations of symptoms that happen at the same time and a child mental health professional should be able to advise you.

Getting professional help is the best option for you but dont be suprised if it is a long road, my daughter is also an A student and has no problems at school from a behavioral point of view. 

Best of luck I know how hard it is to manage a child with problems

run4you · Answer

I agree with ILADVOCATE, a child psychiatrist/psychologist is your best bet... 

Have you looked into ODD (oppositional defiant disorder)? I have a friend who has a child with ODD, and it sounds somewhat like what she describes her son's issues as...

I know how hard it is to wait... I hope you get some answers tomorrow at your doctor's appointment. Good luck!

ILADVOCATE · Answer

I wouldn't think that is bipolar. That is extremely rare for that age. Its hard to tell if its psychiatric but only a child psychiatrist would be able to understand for sure. However it is highly probable its a specific behavior concern that a child psychologist could address with talk therapy and specific cognitive behavioral. Family therapy might be helpful as well.