8 year old temper tantrums

[atourwitsend_2]

We have a 8 year old boy who, within the past 3 or so months has begun having extreme mood problems. Throwing things when he doesn't get his way. Refuses to do anything outside of the house. FOr example we wanted to go to Monster Trucks in a few weeks, but he refuses to go. If we do go, he will ahve his head down the entire time and will not even give it a chance. HE would rather play XBox etc than talk to anyone. If he doesn't do as well on a game as the adults do, he will throw the controller and say he is stupid and can't do anything. We have taken Xbox computers away from him, but the problem doesn't end. If he plays a board game with his sister (11) the same thing happens. We had a recent incident with one of the kids at school when the boy didn't stop throwing snowballs at him (even though my son never told him to stop) my son pushed the boy down to the ground. He said, I could tell he wouldn't stop if I asked him to...

He is an honours student at school (Straight A's on his last report card) very attenative etc there. I have talked to the teacher and she says he is a well adjusted respectful boy all the time. The flip side of this is that he will have extreme happy (to the point of being giddy) as well. I have only noticed this behaviour recently, but it has be concerned. Both my his dad and I try talking to him, trying to figure out what is going on, but all I get is the evil eye (when he is upset) or he completely ignores us if he is in a happy state. Any ideas here, we have tried just about every dicispline that we can think of.  HELP anyone have a similar sit.

[bbc462]

this is part 1 of my comment - above is part 2 - this whole post got messed up b/c it's too long, and i'm having strange issues with it

wow.. it's simultaneously disheartening and enlightening to see so many others having these challenges with their children.. my heart truly goes out to you all.. we are exhausted & also in shock with her behavior.. our 9 year old daughter perfectly fits most of the descriptions here.. however our parenting style and lifestyle we've provided for her is drastically different than the "norm" - so i'd like to offer a different viewpoint for everybody.. i don't necessarily have any answers as i'm seeking answers myself, but hope that my perspective sheds light for some

our sweet, beautiful angelic daughter has always been perfect in our eyes, and everybody loves her to death.. she has been given an immense amount of love, affection & support.. she is home-schooled and has been fortunate enough to spend virtually every day with mommy & daddy for the last 4 years, and every day with mommy since birth.. we've taken her out of the "system" due to the pressures to conform & psychological impact of the schooling system.. she is most definitely gifted, highly intelligent, creative beyond belief, has always easily engaged adults in conversations, and is absolutely joyful & full of light.. she is intuitive and as most others have mentioned, INCREDIBLY *sensitive* ...

for the first 5-6 or so years of her life it was smooth sailing with no issues or concerns.. it's been slowly building for the last probably 2 years and now it's almost a daily meltdown.. with the love she's been given, if this can happen to her/us, i feel it can happen to anyone, so you're definitely not alone!!!

[bbc462]

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[bbc462]

- lastly, i am considering the possibility of bi-polar for my daughter.. although i am heavily against any medication and very much against this clinical labeling of children, i am open to this possibility, and offer this as something to look into for others.. reason is that my father was a severe bi-polar with psychosis.. i witnessed him exhibit every single trait to the extreme.. i have some traces of this myself, although it's moderate and i'm highly aware of my own ups & downs.. really, for me i'm just pretty much ecstatically happy more often than not and i have a love affair with life, coupled with short lived downturns.. if they could bottle up my brain chemistry & sell it, it'd be preferable to any anti-depressants out there ;) .. my daughter is ecstatically joyful & happy most of the time, coupled with (lately) these tantrums.. it is possible that my daughter may have inherited this, and it is a factor

- i mention bi-polar because it may help some get some peace of mind or some needed help, but i think more importantly we need to be able to see through these clinical labels, and challenge the paradigms set by society.. we need to believe in the inherent beauty, divinity & greatness of our children, and not buy into this ********.. our children are special & gifted, and it's up to us to find more & better ways to support & LOVE them (not control & devastate) and i really think medication should be the absolute last resort.. and spanking should never be resorted to under any circumstances

i'm also dropping a link to my personal blog for those who are interested - www.bigbeautifulbuddha.com

[power595]

What is Udo's DHA oil? I am so worried about my child. I think she might be bipolar. Got to try something besides drugs.

[Sandman2]

   How do his school teachers say he interacts with the kids at lunch time or during recess?

[specialmom]

Are these social difficulties new?