Wits End!!

[HeatherB35]

My son will be 4 next month.  As an infant he was very mellow, hardly cried.  As he gets older his behavior deteriorated dramatically.  He is the youngest of 5 and the others always were good to him.  When he was 2 he started getting naughty, which I owned up to the "Terrible Two's".  In the past months, especially this last one, he started throwing severe temper tantrums, even breaking his toe.  He SCREAMS over everything!  He will hit, bite, pull hair, anything that he can do to hurt someone.  He often asks if people are dead.  It is at the point where his siblings don't want to be around him and my family is STRESSED OUT!  He doesn't play with his toys anymore, he rarely laughs or even smiles.  He can be such a sweet and loving kid and it is so hard to see him when he starts flipping out.  But when he does flip out its nasty.  We cant touch him then because he will scream that we are hurting him and if he thinks we are physically restraining him he REALLY goes berserk!. Any advise?  My family seems to be crumbling because of his antics.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

In spite of his reaction, if he is out of control you really must restrain him for safety's sake. Ignore the reaction - he is not in a rational state at those times. Is there a family history of mood disorder? You may be witnessing the early signs of a juvenile onset bipolar condition - time will tell. It would be wise to arrange an evaluation with a child psychiatrist.

[HeatherB35]

Thank you for responding.  There is family history of bipolar 2.  In fact I had mentioned his issues to his pediatrician and the family history and my concerns of his being bipolar.  The doc just kind of snickered and said its too early to tell, that all he saw was a well- behaved polite little boy.  I was very disturbed by his lack of concern because I have seen how he can cause harm to himself and others.  I will say one thing on my child's behalf though.  He LOVES animals and is always kind to them.  He does show a great deal of empathy when he is in a "good" mood.  Thanks again for responding.