Bi-polar in children?
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| Sat, 03-12-2005 - 2:45pm |
I posted not to long ago about my H but now I need advice on my DS.
He is 9. In August he was diagnosed with ADHD, serve anxiety and components of Autism and OCD. He is on meds for the ADHD and doing better but I am starting to think he is going to need something for the anxiety.
I was wondering if DS could have been misdiagnosed so the last time he went to the developmental ped I asked her. She said yes it is possible but at this age stimulants work up till puberty. Any one else told that? Since the meds are working she does not want to look in to he could be misdiagnosed which I am ok with. I have been told it is hard to tell at this age. Is that true? She also told me there are studies that show children that have austic tendencies but don't fit the spectrum are later diagnosed with bi-polar and the same for OCD. Anyone else hear this? Do you know where I could find the studies on this? I emailed someone I know work with her but was told not worry pretty much. It isn't that I am worried because I know if he is bi-polar there is no changing that but I want to read the studies on this. All she sent me was a thing on children with bi-polar.
I found out last night my mother's mother is bi-polar. With so much against him I feel I should be prepared as much as possible because I think his chances are high of being bi-polar. Am I wrong in thinking that? I do not want my son to be bi-polar (I am having a really hard time with the thought of this) but I know there is nothing I can do to stop this him from being bi-polar so want to be prepared so I can help him. I see how messed up my H is at times over waiting so long for treatment and I do not want to see that happen with my DS.



Hi,
I've tried to find study information on bi polar in children and it seems every place I look I find them saying that more studies need to be done.
Love,
Here's a link to the small section on childhood BP on www.nami.org:
Thank you. Been a crazy few days since I posted that and I forgot I had posted it till tonight.
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Proud Cl at: In-Laws: Yours and His
Co-Cl at: Advice: Parent-to-Parent
On that first one I am going to post what it says and explain why or why not I don't see that in DS:
Elated children may laugh hysterically and act infectiously happy without any reason at home, school or in church. If someone who did not know them saw their behaviors, they would think the child was on his/her way to Disneyland. Parents and teachers often see this as "Jim Carey-like" behaviors.
He will laugh hysterically but it is after a stress ful thing has happened. Like he is dirtract himself from what was going on? I have been redirecting him over the anxiety in the store. One of the things I do with him is get silly. I can't remember if this laughing behavor was before or after that started now.
Grandiose behaviors are when children act as if the rules do not pertain to them. For example, they believe they are so smart that they can tell the teacher what to teach, tell other students what to learn and call the school principal to complain about teachers they do not like. Some children are convinced that they can do superhuman deeds (e.g., that they are Superman) without getting seriously hurt, e.g. "flying" out of windows.
He will act like he doesn't care about rules, people or things when he is mad. But he never thinks the rules don't pertain to him jsut doesn't care about them or is that the same thing? He does not think he can do anything better then anyone. He has very low self esteem. When he gets upset or mad he swear no one cares about him. He doesn't think he can fly or anything like that and knows he can get hurt but appears to not care or at least says he does not care.
Flight of ideas is when children jump from topic to topic in rapid succession when they talk and not just when a special event has happened.
I have only noticed this when he is coming down from being upset. Then he does seem to jump from topic to topic but is that just to distract him or me from the anxiety? I have told him I feel anxeity also and know what he is going though.
Decreased need for sleep is manifested by children who sleep only 4-6 hours and are not tired the next day. These children may stay up playing on the computer and ordering things or rearranging furniture.
I wouldn't say a decreased need for sleep because he has never needed a lot of sleep. He can get up at 7 am for school on a Friday morning and not go to bed till between midnight and 2 am (i send him to bed at midnight now). chool nights he takes something to help him sleep. He can just lay in bed for hours if he is not tired and hasn't been given a pill. No tv, radio or toys. He plays with his hands. I do this one and have no other signs of bi polar. My mind just won't turn off.
Hypersexuality can occur in children with mania without any evidence of physical or sexual abuse. These children act flirtatious beyond their years, may try to touch the private areas of adults (including teachers), and use explicit sexual language.
Only person he ever touched was me. He would touch my butt or breast. It was a way to get attention and push my bottons I think. Didn't happen often. One time it was because we were at my friends house and he wanted to leave. I know he figured since he was acting up (we had talked about not touching people there) we would go. Instead my friend took over and broke that habit of his. But he has never done that to anyone else. He was a flitatious baby but wasn't all his fault. He had the bluest eyes that women always had to stop and commet to him on =).
In addition, it is most common for children with mania to have multiple cycles during the day from giddy, silly highs to morose, gloomy suicidal depressions. It is very important to recognize these depressed cycles because of the danger of suicide.
I see cycles sometimes but there is always a reason. something happened at school so he comes home mad. I didn't pick him up early like I said I was going to. I didn't make it for lunch like I wanted too. Or there was some change in his routine (more last year before meds). But could pretty much figure out why he was flipping out. With bi-polar there is no reason right? Once he breaks out of the bad mood he can get silly but he doens't cycle back and forth. Once the bad mood is broke that is it till something else happens.
A lot of what you've broken down could be BP, but could have other explanations, as well--one of the reasons BP is so hard to properly dx in kids (and I'm sure not a doc).
Great idea. But most has stopped or improved on the meds. I am not real worried about a label I just want to make sure that he is getting the right help that he needs. But he is doing better. And it would be nice to know what to look for later in life. When I asked his Dr she said mood swings (sigh).
Another question is cutting your self part of being bi-polar? My husband has started cutting himself and now says this is part of being bi-polar. Just wondering if he is telling the truth or not.
Hey There,
I have to apologize cause I didn't read the whole thread only a few of the posts, so forgive me if I echo others.
I have 2 children possibly 3 with ADHD and 1 that suffers from depression. Yes, I'm sure that my 11 y/o (the one who suffers from depression and ADHD) is bipolar. But they don't like to "label" a child with that until around the age of 17-20 years of age. As well as my 11 y/o, I COMPLETELY see myself in my 14 y/o who has a pretty bad case of ADHD and can have some pretty bad mood swings. My 3rd child has been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder....however what I have researched on it recently does not seem to totally fit the child that I live with. I know that it doesn't take a complete match to make a fit with MI, however I think BP will eventually come knocking on his door at some point in his life as well too.
Admittedly it's not easy to live with children who have these issues. I feel lucky in the sense that I can very easily detect a mood swing in them and ask "whats wrong?" and try to help them work through it better than, say, my dh would be able to. I have the component of total understanding.
For you however, I would offer the advice that no matter what comes out of your childs mouth, DO NOT DISREGARD THEM! My parents always disregarded what I said to them as a means to get attention. Often at times when I needed a hug I got a shove. The same stands true as an adult with my dh. Also, some of the things you'll hear them say may be difficult to hear because it'll hurt you. Not because you are being attacked verbally, but because you are feeling their pain.......but if we can't tell someone and validate ourselves our suffering only becomes all that more painful inside ourselves. You don't always have to have an answer for them. Sometimes they/we don't even want to be touched. We just want to be heard. We need to know that someone is there for us 'cause sometimes even when that person is sitting right in front of us, we still feel all alone.
As for your dh cutting, unfortunately that sometimes is a factor of bipolar. I myself have cut before and very recently have had to fight the urge to cut. I can't find the words to describe to you why I do it accept that sometimes it helps me let the pain inside go for just a little while. Then I have to deal with superficial pain instead of inner pain. *shrug* I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but believe me the pain that we feel inside is VERY strong and very IMMENSE. So if we can find a way of relieving it, we will.
I hope I was a little bit of help to you. If you have any direct questions that I skipped over about kids and bp, ask me. I too, unfortunately have adhd so my attention span will skip and hop! LOL
Love and Light,
~Teri~
~Every Time I'm Falling Down
All Alone I Fall To Pieces~
*Scott Weiland*
The Worlds A Roller Coaster
And I Am Not Strapped In
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