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Is it possible that my 8 year old could have bipolar
Hi My 8 year old girl has always been a difficult child since birth, until she was three we were told she had milk and soya intolerance, she used to cry for hours and clench her tummy, her mood seem to run in cycles, good one week, terrible the next, eventually at three when her tantrums were hours long and she constantly complained of tummy ache neck ache shoulder ache and she got very upset and scared all the time she was diagnosed with sensory issues with an GAD anxiety disorder, yes she suffers from anxiety but only when she is going through a bad period, now 8 and still we have periods of very low mood she complains of symptomatic complaints, withdraws from friends, doesnt want to go to school ect.. then she can cope better and starts doing normal kid stuff but is still very contrary, one minute happy next having a 1-3 hour meltdown, she is irritable, tired and very aggressive to her siblings. During her really bad times since she was five she has expressed that she wants to die and says she wants to kill herself, She is being assessed again and they have said its not typical behaviour for anxiety, she is having an eeg. She is an A student and she has very little problems at school ect.. sadness and not wanting to join in but thats all. we have been reassured that they are going to investigate everything this time as like us they feel it has gone on too long. We have three other children who do not suffer like her. As parents we find it hard to understand and manage her whilst ensuring the other children dont become overwhelmed by the situation, we have been told that they will also do some work with the younger sibling as she is most effected, they have put it to a board and have said they have further assesments to do. I think she is baffling them also, when they do an assesment they expect her to respond in a certain way and she doesnt do what they expect so they arnt saying much at this point and I feel helpless. I feel that she has waited long enough to grow out of it and I am concerned what impact this will have on her long term. She is a very lovable child with an outstanding forward thinking intelligence, I think sometimes this is some of the problem, she doesnt have the emotional maturity to cope with her thoughts, she describes her worries as heaps of moving bugs in her head and she knows what some of them are but not all of them, she also has hullucinations when she is really overwhelmed but we are unsure if these are a coping/justifying method for behaviour or she really does think she sees scarey people. Does anyone have any possible theories as I have looked at all childhood disorders and no one fits. Thank you
I know this was written so long ago... Your daughter must be about 14 or 15 now. I just found this thread today and it really struck a chord with me. I am at my wits end with my 8 year old daughter. She has always been troubled but it seems as though it has taken a turn for the worse again. At school she is quiet, nervous, tightly controlled, submissive to other children, but at home she is aggressive, mean, demanding, extremely negative and sometimes violent. After one of her rages, she is a mess... all pitiful sobs that break my heart. I can hear the deep sadness and desperation in her and I don't know what to do about it. We have already seen various doctors in the past, who say her symptoms are unusual. Bipolar has come up, but no one seems to want to touch it. Briefly we tried an antidepressant at a very mild dose.. I was hoping to take the edge of her agony.. but it made her wound up, impulsive, out of control hyper. I am so worried that her negativity and sadness will affect her future sense of self for years to come. And of course I worry about her affecting her little brothers when she is cruel or threatening to them. If you happen to see this comment, perhaps you would be willing to update us on your situation with your daughter. I would be interested to know how she has been and if there was finally a proper diagnosis. Best wishes to you.
I'm reading your post years after you made it because we had a HUGE manic "monkey go nuts" incident with my 8yr old daughter today. My husband was here to see her off-the-wall issues I have to deal with, mostly set off by homework problems when she KNOWS the answers. It was ugly and lasted over an hour. She's been getting more headaches lately and after her time out I checked on her and her neck muscles were to tight they almost stuck out. She didn't remember yelling at us or losing her mind. When she is punished, many times she goes to her room with tears in her eyes and calms herself down by talking it out. She usually writes me a sincere apology note expressing her feelings and the outcome very precisely. Before she could write she would draw pictures for us and apologize. But, since Kindergarten the "insane" meltdowns are happening more frequently and now a headaches are joining the crazy. I'm concerned. She's not talked about hurting herself but tonight she screamed at her daddy for "dancing" at her anger? He did no such thing and she couldn't get off that idea. She does talk about her being "fat" but she's normal weight and very talented in dance and flexibility/cheer moves. She's a popular girl and since she started 3rd grade has not been in trouble once (HUGE new change - wonderful!) But, the meltdowns have been much more aggressive and scary. Depression runs in my family and so do migraines. My family tree has "self-medicated" with drugs and especially alcohol and I'm the ONLY one who doesn't do anything to escape except for therapy and anti-depressants. I'm wondering if it's time to see a child therapist just to get some of the feelings on record.....
Have you considered counseling. When working with children, they also work with the parents to teach them how to deal with the child. They usually teach you some behavioral techniques to sue and help you understand what is happening with your child. Meanwhile the child has an outlet and receives counseling. I would get a therapist who specializes in children.
Wow, I understand! My daughter told me this morning that she wants to kill herself, shes only 7. It scared me to death. I don't know what to do.
Bipolar Disorder is also hereditary. I think any of disorders that you have she could also have. One of the problems with diagnosing is that alot of the symptoms could overlap and be a symptom of several diffrent disorders. I have studied alot about it and I have learned how difficult it can be to get an accurate diagnosises. It took me years to get accurately diagnosed. It may not happen over night and whatever diagnosis she may get could be changed over time. Sometimes the only way is to observe the person over a long period of time. I think when this dificulty occures the best way to handle it is to just treat the symptoms. I hope you get some answers and something that helps her.
This post is extremely helpful for me. My 8 year old daughter is showing the same behavior. I'm lost as to what to do. Doctors tell me she's to young for medication. Counselors tell me its my parenting. I get no support from these people. Her school has witnessed the out burst all through kindergarten and part of first grade. Second grade at school has not been so bad with her episodes but depression has hit bad! It scares me and I do not know what to do.
Ok first thing to do.
Stop. Take a deep breath. Youre not alone and there is help out there.
Most important thing you can do right now for your daughter is to be as calm and in control as you can be for her OK ?
Now as to stopping depression its going to depend on what is causing the depression - triggers are a major thing - the problem is that she may not be able to explain what is causing her to feel depressed.
if she is BP then Its normal to be brave and ready for anything one week and then depressed the next - for us rapid cyclers it can be hourly when its bad.
The very best thing you can do is be supportive of her, let the doctors assess here and if at ANY time you think she is a danger to herself or anyone else take her to a hospital right away - a lot of people are hesitant to do that - dont be - as someone who has been there and done that if a hospitalisation means saving a life then its the best thing.
Have faith and hope ok, there will be an answer here, you just need to remember that although the times are hard right now they can get bette.
There's lot of people here who you can talk to, im getting thru my days right now because of some of them. You are not alone ok.
Stop. Take a deep breath. Youre not alone and there is help out there.
Most important thing you can do right now for your daughter is to be as calm and in control as you can be for her OK ?
Now as to stopping depression its going to depend on what is causing the depression - triggers are a major thing - the problem is that she may not be able to explain what is causing her to feel depressed.
if she is BP then Its normal to be brave and ready for anything one week and then depressed the next - for us rapid cyclers it can be hourly when its bad.
The very best thing you can do is be supportive of her, let the doctors assess here and if at ANY time you think she is a danger to herself or anyone else take her to a hospital right away - a lot of people are hesitant to do that - dont be - as someone who has been there and done that if a hospitalisation means saving a life then its the best thing.
Have faith and hope ok, there will be an answer here, you just need to remember that although the times are hard right now they can get bette.
There's lot of people here who you can talk to, im getting thru my days right now because of some of them. You are not alone ok.
Ok now I am really worried
My daughters anxiety has escalated again this week and I am concerned this is going to spiral out of control again and trigger another depression. How can she be brave and ready for anything and then the next week fall to pieces,
How can you stop someone going into depression, I feel helpless to stop it, I dont know what to do.
I have emailed her therapist but am finding that they are not giving any answers yet, they are still assessing, she has had a blood test and nothing came up, she has had a school assesment and they noticed only her habbit of pressing herself on her private parts but nothing else, I have provided video tapes of her irritability and her being overwhelmed but am due to discuss this on tuesday.
I have no clue what is going on...........................any suggestions for a desperate mother.
My daughters anxiety has escalated again this week and I am concerned this is going to spiral out of control again and trigger another depression. How can she be brave and ready for anything and then the next week fall to pieces,
How can you stop someone going into depression, I feel helpless to stop it, I dont know what to do.
I have emailed her therapist but am finding that they are not giving any answers yet, they are still assessing, she has had a blood test and nothing came up, she has had a school assesment and they noticed only her habbit of pressing herself on her private parts but nothing else, I have provided video tapes of her irritability and her being overwhelmed but am due to discuss this on tuesday.
I have no clue what is going on...........................any suggestions for a desperate mother.
Funnily enough my pdoc and I were discussing this the other day - it used to be almost impossible to find a child under 14 or so who was manifesting BP symptoms but she is now seeing children as young as 8 and 9 who need medication and treatment.
She commented that this is not as rare a it was and alarmingly they are also seeing children as young as 8 or 9 who are going thru puberty and starting to menstruate - as puberty is often the trigger for Bipolar in paediatric cases.
It sounds like something is wrong here, yes BP runs in families - my mother was BP and my 2 brothers both display symptoms, my younger brother is almost exactly like me in his behaviours and moods.
I was an ADHD child with major behavioural issues and spent my childhood in therapy, a lot of this now can be put down to BP but in those days childhood BP (or manic depression as it was known) was considered non existant or very very rare and most child psychs did not consider it - I must have had every diagnosis in the world from autism to aspergers to hyperactivity and finaly ADHD - Ritalin did work for me in a lot of ways and a lot of the behaviour stabilised in the end with good therapists.
BP in children this young can and does happen and many of the things people are describing here are things I did and I am sure if we all think back we can see similar behaviours in all of our shildhoods - the way BP manifests in childhood is still being studied, the hard thing of course as we all know is that even adults dont react well to all therapies the same way - what works for one person does not always work for the other do its obviously harder in kids.
She commented that this is not as rare a it was and alarmingly they are also seeing children as young as 8 or 9 who are going thru puberty and starting to menstruate - as puberty is often the trigger for Bipolar in paediatric cases.
It sounds like something is wrong here, yes BP runs in families - my mother was BP and my 2 brothers both display symptoms, my younger brother is almost exactly like me in his behaviours and moods.
I was an ADHD child with major behavioural issues and spent my childhood in therapy, a lot of this now can be put down to BP but in those days childhood BP (or manic depression as it was known) was considered non existant or very very rare and most child psychs did not consider it - I must have had every diagnosis in the world from autism to aspergers to hyperactivity and finaly ADHD - Ritalin did work for me in a lot of ways and a lot of the behaviour stabilised in the end with good therapists.
BP in children this young can and does happen and many of the things people are describing here are things I did and I am sure if we all think back we can see similar behaviours in all of our shildhoods - the way BP manifests in childhood is still being studied, the hard thing of course as we all know is that even adults dont react well to all therapies the same way - what works for one person does not always work for the other do its obviously harder in kids.
I have just been to the docs and we have given them some videos of some of the behaviours, they dont think the wetting is anxiety so they have decided to check her for diabetes, this was a massive traumer because I had to take her for a blood test, she was terrible, she ran out of the docs twice and then when we had to go to get the blood test done she ran out of the building and kept running across driveways, she was fast approaching a road and I couldnt catch her so I screamed at her and this stopped her in her tracks, she then realised she was by the road it was so scary, they had to hold her down to get the blood out is was really stressfull for both of us. I guess if we have to go through this to get her the help she needs then we will just have to but in the mean time Im scared she is going to hurt herself. She got really upset last night and thinks that she is never going to get rid of her worries in her head, she has started to say she doesnt want to go to places again and that she sometimes feels like she wants to die, the other day she was frustrated and said she wanted to strangle herself, so I know the depression is coming again, we had a long chat and she has said she will go to her friends on saturday but I think she will probably bail.
My son has done that many times wet himself. The doctor says that it is that he is so upset and anxious that he doesn't notice doing it. He now actually has a problem with having bowel movements in his pants.
The only thing that I can suggest when she does that is to make her have a time out which usually never really worked for me. I learned that basically when she throws the remote don't scream at her just tell her we don't throw things in this house and then when she has calmed down make her pick it up. Most likely the wetting herself is her way of trying to get attention, she probably does not like the way she feels inside herself. I am not sure if you have read this or not but the book "The Bipolar Child" is a great book to read.
If I can help in any way feel free to contact me. I do know what you are going through and it is very difficult. Before my son was in the hospital I had delt with the situations so long and no one really believing me that it was that bad (the school, his friends, my husband) that I ended up haveing a break down. my email address is ***@****.
The only thing that I can suggest when she does that is to make her have a time out which usually never really worked for me. I learned that basically when she throws the remote don't scream at her just tell her we don't throw things in this house and then when she has calmed down make her pick it up. Most likely the wetting herself is her way of trying to get attention, she probably does not like the way she feels inside herself. I am not sure if you have read this or not but the book "The Bipolar Child" is a great book to read.
If I can help in any way feel free to contact me. I do know what you are going through and it is very difficult. Before my son was in the hospital I had delt with the situations so long and no one really believing me that it was that bad (the school, his friends, my husband) that I ended up haveing a break down. my email address is ***@****.
Thank you for this, I am so worried she has wet herself 7 times in the last week and she says she cant feel it, she is on a high at the moment and I find this the most dificult to manage. She is so unpredictable, she has only really hurt herself, she threatens to hurt others but doesnt, this morning she said she wanted to break the tv all because she was too agitated to get up and get the remote so throwing the remote hard on the floor was her answer, 10mins later she wet herself whilst laughing exessively.
I just want to know so that we can start a plan of action to make things better for everyone.
I just want to know so that we can start a plan of action to make things better for everyone.
I am reading your story and feel like I am reading about my son. He is going to be turning 9 next week. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When he was two I started noticing things about him that just didn't seem right but everyone kept saying that it was the terrible two's. He would bang his head on the floor, window, hit himself, bite himself, attack me, and his brother when he was born. He would be fine one minute and then explode for what seemed like forever. He was kicked out of preschool and I have had him in many different programs. Unfortunetly he also had to deal with me being in and out of the hospital because i also have Adhesion Related Disorder so my organs constantly get stuck together. I have just had my 11th surgery in June.
My husband and I (now ex husband) finally agreed to put him on medication. That was a process in finding the right one. It took me having to admit him to the hospital because at the time he was going after me and my younger son. He would talk alot about wanting to die and would even try and lay down in parking lots. He put his hand through glass windows and toward the end I would have to lock myself in the bathroom so he would not attack me and my younger son.
He is now on abilify and I have to say he is doing very well. I do have some issues with him but he is sooooooooooo much better.
I myself have just been diagnosed with Bipolar II about 2 months ago and am trying to deal with that as well. It has been a struggle but I am not giving up.
My husband and I (now ex husband) finally agreed to put him on medication. That was a process in finding the right one. It took me having to admit him to the hospital because at the time he was going after me and my younger son. He would talk alot about wanting to die and would even try and lay down in parking lots. He put his hand through glass windows and toward the end I would have to lock myself in the bathroom so he would not attack me and my younger son.
He is now on abilify and I have to say he is doing very well. I do have some issues with him but he is sooooooooooo much better.
I myself have just been diagnosed with Bipolar II about 2 months ago and am trying to deal with that as well. It has been a struggle but I am not giving up.
Thank you I will, I also found the "explosive child" to be a great book and it turned my thinking completley around, it covers all kids with OCD to ADHD ect..
It makes you understand they are not doing it on purpose, once I accepted that, things got heaps better.
It makes you understand they are not doing it on purpose, once I accepted that, things got heaps better.
I know it is hard, but it sounds she is with the right family and you are trying a lot to help her.
The book
"transforming the difficult child, the nurtured heart approach" By Howard Glasser
Google it - there is a website. I've forgotten the details, things have got so good.
It helped to turn things around for us.
The book
"transforming the difficult child, the nurtured heart approach" By Howard Glasser
Google it - there is a website. I've forgotten the details, things have got so good.
It helped to turn things around for us.
Thanks for that, throw anything out there I will look at anything to find an answer..
Your BP must be quite disabling for you to say that if you had known, when I found out I was pregnant with my forth child I decided I would have all the test because I was finding my now 8 yr old so hard and I could not imagine how I would cope if anything was wrong with the next one so I can sort of understand, obviously now even though they have been the hardest years of my life I wouldnt change anything and what ever they say is the problem I am sort of prepared I just find it really hard when she is so depressed and sad and says stuff like ' why am I so different from everyone else, I wish I wasnt me, I want to die, will you always love me, why do you love me' , thats the pain I would really like to take away from her
Your BP must be quite disabling for you to say that if you had known, when I found out I was pregnant with my forth child I decided I would have all the test because I was finding my now 8 yr old so hard and I could not imagine how I would cope if anything was wrong with the next one so I can sort of understand, obviously now even though they have been the hardest years of my life I wouldnt change anything and what ever they say is the problem I am sort of prepared I just find it really hard when she is so depressed and sad and says stuff like ' why am I so different from everyone else, I wish I wasnt me, I want to die, will you always love me, why do you love me' , thats the pain I would really like to take away from her
Hopefully you will be able to narrow things down a bit. Seizure meds are often used for bipolar disorder, so if she has a combination of things, maybe you will get lucky not to need a million different medications.
I'm just throwing this out there, but you don't think she might have chemical sensitivities, do you? Cleaning products, etc.?
Bipolar in children is often violent and aggressive, not as easy to diagnose as in adults, not that it's always easy--often it's misdiagnosed in general. Every bipolar child I've known has been quite different from the other children with it and the typical adult with it. That being said, some people want to make bipolar disorder an umbrella diagnosis, so keep educating yourself--you know your child better than anyone else.
I'm sorry this is painful for you. I know what it is like as a mom with a little one who can't tell you what the problem is when ill. Also, I look at my kids now as they get older for signs of bipolar. If I'd known I was prone to bipolar, I would never have had biological children for fear of increasing the chance of my children developing it.
Best of luck.
I'm just throwing this out there, but you don't think she might have chemical sensitivities, do you? Cleaning products, etc.?
Bipolar in children is often violent and aggressive, not as easy to diagnose as in adults, not that it's always easy--often it's misdiagnosed in general. Every bipolar child I've known has been quite different from the other children with it and the typical adult with it. That being said, some people want to make bipolar disorder an umbrella diagnosis, so keep educating yourself--you know your child better than anyone else.
I'm sorry this is painful for you. I know what it is like as a mom with a little one who can't tell you what the problem is when ill. Also, I look at my kids now as they get older for signs of bipolar. If I'd known I was prone to bipolar, I would never have had biological children for fear of increasing the chance of my children developing it.
Best of luck.
Thanks for responding
Yes we have been told many years ago around 4years old when she was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder that she has some Autistic tendancies, some OCD tendancies, they explained mental disorders as a big umbrella and that she may display some behaviours seen in some disorders but that doesnt mean she has them, she saw an occupational therapist at this time to be evaluated for Sensory Intergrated Dysfunction, this is also common with Autistic children and they concluded although she has some sensory issues they should be treated as tendancies only and that Autism or SID was not the issue and GAD anxiety fitted better, obviously now they have changed and dont think GAD is correct and think the sensory issues and anxiety are mear symptoms of something else, but what they are not saying. They are doing an EEG to discount epilepsy all though I think this is a long shot as I am sure the amount of times she has seen specialists that someone would have picked up on that by now. We are just sitting and waiting for them to exhaust all avenues and then hopefully come up with a conclusion, all I know is that they seem a little concerned and the pressure has definatley gone up, they want to come to the house but the phsycologist wants the phsyciatrist to come also, Im not sure what they think they are going to find but I guess they just want to check us out at home and see her enviroment is not a factor. The phsyciatrist has said he has several things he thinks it could be, he wants to discount and doesnt think its fair to discuss them with us until he has done all the assesments, they also put it to a board of specialists and all we were told after that is they have a few more assesments to do, as I have said before she then responds in a different way to the way they expect and I think they are a little stumped. I have to have hope that they will find the reason as she can not carry on like this, it cant be good for anyone to have these rapid changing emotions and abilities let alone a little girl, honestly I would say over half her time is full of negative feelings in some form and as a parent I just hate seeing her like it.
Yes we have been told many years ago around 4years old when she was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder that she has some Autistic tendancies, some OCD tendancies, they explained mental disorders as a big umbrella and that she may display some behaviours seen in some disorders but that doesnt mean she has them, she saw an occupational therapist at this time to be evaluated for Sensory Intergrated Dysfunction, this is also common with Autistic children and they concluded although she has some sensory issues they should be treated as tendancies only and that Autism or SID was not the issue and GAD anxiety fitted better, obviously now they have changed and dont think GAD is correct and think the sensory issues and anxiety are mear symptoms of something else, but what they are not saying. They are doing an EEG to discount epilepsy all though I think this is a long shot as I am sure the amount of times she has seen specialists that someone would have picked up on that by now. We are just sitting and waiting for them to exhaust all avenues and then hopefully come up with a conclusion, all I know is that they seem a little concerned and the pressure has definatley gone up, they want to come to the house but the phsycologist wants the phsyciatrist to come also, Im not sure what they think they are going to find but I guess they just want to check us out at home and see her enviroment is not a factor. The phsyciatrist has said he has several things he thinks it could be, he wants to discount and doesnt think its fair to discuss them with us until he has done all the assesments, they also put it to a board of specialists and all we were told after that is they have a few more assesments to do, as I have said before she then responds in a different way to the way they expect and I think they are a little stumped. I have to have hope that they will find the reason as she can not carry on like this, it cant be good for anyone to have these rapid changing emotions and abilities let alone a little girl, honestly I would say over half her time is full of negative feelings in some form and as a parent I just hate seeing her like it.
Have you considered she might have some degree of autism? The allergies remind me of my good friend's son who is autistic and has many food allergies. He seemed fine until vaccination at age 2 (which contained egg albumen--he's allergic.)
Plus, there are several autistic kids in our area schools who behave similarly to what you described.
She could have more than one thing going on. I know people with autism, bipolar, and seizures all together.
Plus, there are several autistic kids in our area schools who behave similarly to what you described.
She could have more than one thing going on. I know people with autism, bipolar, and seizures all together.
Hi
Thank you, I hope you are right. Although my instinct is telling me different. My son was a full on boy who also was at times an emotionally volitile child now 17 he has also mellowed, my 14 year old girl is a perfectionist and is in the gifted class also has some anxiety and my youngest is a free spririt and nothing much gets her down, all my kids are differrent but with my 8 year old she is one of a kind and her behaviour is very very different from anything I have ever encounterred with my other children or friends children, we have been working on behaviour modification and anxiety control for 4 years and it has made little difference, something I have noticed is that with her you can not make a meltdown happen, even if you push all the right buttons this is why they beleive it is not behaviour problems as such, something happens internally and she changes then thick and fast she becomes depressed, anxious and very distressed. She was having cognitive behaviour therapy just recently, they first thought she had some hidden underlying reason for her behaviours, they dont think this is the case now as her behaviour is so inconsistant. What they have said is that with anxiety it is usually consistant even with generalised anxiety its not something the comes and goes like it does with her, the only thing that is consistant with her is her inconsistancy and this rapid change is confusing them. I hope its just something that can be fixed with therapy and time but as time is going on we can see it developing and feel helpless at this stage to stop it. Thank you for the hope
Thank you, I hope you are right. Although my instinct is telling me different. My son was a full on boy who also was at times an emotionally volitile child now 17 he has also mellowed, my 14 year old girl is a perfectionist and is in the gifted class also has some anxiety and my youngest is a free spririt and nothing much gets her down, all my kids are differrent but with my 8 year old she is one of a kind and her behaviour is very very different from anything I have ever encounterred with my other children or friends children, we have been working on behaviour modification and anxiety control for 4 years and it has made little difference, something I have noticed is that with her you can not make a meltdown happen, even if you push all the right buttons this is why they beleive it is not behaviour problems as such, something happens internally and she changes then thick and fast she becomes depressed, anxious and very distressed. She was having cognitive behaviour therapy just recently, they first thought she had some hidden underlying reason for her behaviours, they dont think this is the case now as her behaviour is so inconsistant. What they have said is that with anxiety it is usually consistant even with generalised anxiety its not something the comes and goes like it does with her, the only thing that is consistant with her is her inconsistancy and this rapid change is confusing them. I hope its just something that can be fixed with therapy and time but as time is going on we can see it developing and feel helpless at this stage to stop it. Thank you for the hope
I had depression and anxiety in childhood and I grew out of it. She is very young.
Have you researched 'gifted and talented kids' this is pretty typical behaviour of such a child. She is probably a highly sensitive child whos emotional maturity is behind the thinking as you said. But chances are it will catch up and things will even out.
My son (diagnosed ADHD/high inteligence) we used behaviour management not drugs. He was soooo difficult as a child, he is not the easiest teenager (aged 17) and all the other kids, whose mothers used to hide when they saw my son coming, are kicking up goodtime. Whereas he just mellowed out.
Have you researched 'gifted and talented kids' this is pretty typical behaviour of such a child. She is probably a highly sensitive child whos emotional maturity is behind the thinking as you said. But chances are it will catch up and things will even out.
My son (diagnosed ADHD/high inteligence) we used behaviour management not drugs. He was soooo difficult as a child, he is not the easiest teenager (aged 17) and all the other kids, whose mothers used to hide when they saw my son coming, are kicking up goodtime. Whereas he just mellowed out.
Yes we do have to stay strong, I admit that at times I end up in floods of tears with sheer frustration but after one of his "goes" he snaps straight into nice kid as if nothing has happened. He hasn't had a major go for a while, must be at least 4 months, if he does have another violent rage then I shall be taking him back to the doctor. None of my other children are like him, I have 4. So I know it can't be my parenting! What I do want though is help and support with how to deal with him. The mood swings are daily but as I say the violent swings are getting more infrequent.
It took till I was 24 before I got my first official diagnosis of bp and I then dropped out of the mental health system, it was another 14 years before I got to a point where I couldn't cope and got put on medication. I won't let him suffer for as long as I did.
All the best, if you ever want to pm me on here please feel free.
It took till I was 24 before I got my first official diagnosis of bp and I then dropped out of the mental health system, it was another 14 years before I got to a point where I couldn't cope and got put on medication. I won't let him suffer for as long as I did.
All the best, if you ever want to pm me on here please feel free.
Thank you so much for responding. Its so good to know I am not alone, the docs are taking her seriously as they picked her case up during the last depression so they could see, I think they have spoken to her about her suicidal thoughts and I guess she must have opened up to them about them but they are just assessing and its taking so long, I feel sometimes they dont really beleive me but im sure this is not true. They have asked for video of her behaviours, I have managed to catch one of our chats on camera but I am waiting for the opportunity to get a rage although because this is so crazy and I need to keep hersafe Im not sure how I am actually going to get it on camera but I am trying hard to try and anticipate but have missed a few opportunities, its been a month or so since her last so I know its coming. You could also try and get something on camera, I am happy for them to tell me what I am doing wrong if anything but after all this time we have tried everything and when its going to happen its going to happen, I have learnt that you can not make one happen and thats why I am sure something happens internally that makes her snap and she looses all control, I think no one can know how this feels unless you live it. thanks again I wish you the best with your child, remember its not your fault or his and keep going, I will not let any doc tell me my daughter doesnt need help, im lucky this hasnt happened yet but if it did I am ready...
I have read all that you and the others have written. Your daughter sounds a lot like my son, he is 12 with the exception that he doesn't excatly get depressed but he does shut himself in his room and not socialize. He also shows none of the behaviour at school and they all think he is wonderful, and I think I wish they could see him at home!
His episodes of violent rage have reduced as he gets older but they are worse when they do happen. He gets verbally aggressive with us all, says we are all against him and that he wishes he wasn't here. I have found knives hidden in his room but when I ask him about it he pretends to look surprised.
I have tried speaking to our doctor but they just aren't interested, because he is doing well at school and because the violent outbursts are relatively infrequent they don't consider it a problem.
I am bipolar and I truly believe that he is also bipolar and has been since the age of about 2 which is when this all started.
I hope that your daughters outbursts also become less frequent, but yes I can understand completely your worry with regard to the depression.
I'm sorry I haven't given you any answers but I just wanted you to know that you are not alone.
All the best.
His episodes of violent rage have reduced as he gets older but they are worse when they do happen. He gets verbally aggressive with us all, says we are all against him and that he wishes he wasn't here. I have found knives hidden in his room but when I ask him about it he pretends to look surprised.
I have tried speaking to our doctor but they just aren't interested, because he is doing well at school and because the violent outbursts are relatively infrequent they don't consider it a problem.
I am bipolar and I truly believe that he is also bipolar and has been since the age of about 2 which is when this all started.
I hope that your daughters outbursts also become less frequent, but yes I can understand completely your worry with regard to the depression.
I'm sorry I haven't given you any answers but I just wanted you to know that you are not alone.
All the best.
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