Bi Polar Disorder ?

We have a 9 yr old boy who demonstrates extreme behavour at time especially towards his younger brother who is 6 to the point that we are scared he will physically injure him, he has violent mood swings when is told he can't have or do something he wants.After these violent attacks on who ever he always says he is sorry, yet goes and does the exact same thing ten minutes later, he does not seem to be affected by the fact he hurts everyone in his family ( no feeling of remorse) by the things he says and does, infact he seems to enjoy hurting his younger brother and get great pleasure from doing so. He has always had trouble sleeping, in that he sleeps about 6 hours per night.We don't know how to handle him now and the older he gets the more difficult it is getting. He has seen a few doctors, nothing was discovered no treatment basically given.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is certainly possible that your son displays a mood disorder, but that can only be determined via a clinical evaluation, including some psychological testing. He would be considered more vulnerable to such a condition if there is a family history of such disorder.

In any case, he will require a systematic plan for behavior management, a topic we write about often in this Forum (you can see many replies by using the SEARCH function and typing in Behavior or Parenting). I'd suggest you obtain the book S.O.S.:Help for Parents (by Lynn Clark). It will offer you a practical, common-sense, effective framework for addressing the sort of behavior you describe.

[Mrs Stayler]

You should let his mom deal with this Im sure he loves her very much !