Does my 3 year old have a mood disorder?

[makaylah]

My step-son is 3 years old and I need to find out if he has any symptoms of a mood disorder. He goes to pre-school and his teachers said that he is pretty much always good, but almost immediately when he gets home his attitude changes.

- He is clingy, but I don't think it's a normal clingy for a 3 year old. He throws fits and cries to the point of almost throwing up when anybody leaves the house or walks away from him and he won't stop unless they come back.
- He gets mad, frusterated, and aggitated over the littlest things.
- He is very aggresive.
- Out of nowhere, he gets in extremely hyper moods and we can't calm him down. When he's in these moods, he is still very aggresive.
- Some days he cries ALL DAY long and we can't distract him in any way to get him to calm down.
- Some days he doesn't cry at all, but he still acts out.
- He plays good with himself and sometimes he plays good in groups, until he gets mad.
- He is constantly hitting and being aggresive toward my daughter and other kids (outside of pre-school)
- He is very loving
- He talks constantly
- It's almost impossible to get him to go to sleep at night
- He will say he's hungry, then when we give him food, he tells us that he's sick.
- He screams at the top of his lungs at us. Most of the time his screaming "No!" when we ask him to do or not to do something.
- He can be the sweetest little boy in the world
- When he meets new people, sometimes he is very quiet and shy, other times he will go right to them and play.
- His biological mother is bipolar and she has a brother and a nephew that are also bipolar.
                                         **PLEASE HELP***


This discussion is related to 3 Year Old -What is Normal Behavior?.

[tiffany2008]

Please let me know what you find out.  My son who will be four in June sounds somewhat like your child.  I took him to the pediatrician and they will evaluate him some time in September.

[jdtm]

Your list of behaviours are similar to behaviours in children suffering from anxiety. I might suggest you google the term "childhood anxiety" or "social anxiety" or words to that effect to see if any of the descriptions are similar to those of your son.  But, it might be prudent if you contacted your son's pediatrician in order to get a proper diagnosis - especially since there is a history of mental health issues in the family.  I wish you the best ...