anyone ever see this with their difficult child?

Jena

New Member
good morning,

i hope everyone's weekend was good.

I had a question, and wanted to throw it out there. difficult child and I have been having an odd week and a half. I increase her medication (seroquel) it takes affect the following day, she calms and gets rest at nite than the next day she's up again till 3 a.m. or so and bouncing off the walls, argumentative, etc. and then i have to increase it again. So, i'm now moving up on our 4th increase in this week and a half period. Gotta be honest it's making me nervous because she keeps adjusting and than boom gotta go up again. I do not want to sedate her so that I can work this job I got in 3 to 4 weeks.

So, here's my question, does anyone else with whom has a difficult child that has BiPolar (BP) or experiences any type of "hypomania" or "manic" episodes ever see their difficult child working feverishly (very focused, very) on a project during this state for long periods of time.

Example; difficult child last night once again couldn't calm down and sleep; didn't appear to be anxiety ridden was quite happy just told me she can't make her body stay still; was jumping and bouncing and twirling all day long etc. she sat there for two hours last night working on a math workbook that a family member had gotten her. When I say focused, wow beyond compare. by the way this is the kid with whom can't get her hw done after school each day without a huge amt of effort on my part.

So, have you ever experienced this? It seems that late in the day when she's in this mode she can channel it, don't get me wrong it's great. Yet it's odd to watch she barely raises her head, and the counting and the numbers and the answers and the work involved. just so odd. Ofcourse if you try to step in the middle of it and say ok let's try to go lay down, etc. ti's getting very late she basically growls at you. It ended bad last night because she fought me for the book and pen. Yet I got her down by 1 a.m.

thanks for your thoughts. :)
 

klmno

Active Member
Yes- difficult child does this in hypomanic states many times. His school papers are normally just a pile of stuff, but it is not uncommon for him to go thru and organize them all and put them neatly in his binder in this phase. Also, he'll go on cleaning sprees and work his rear off making a room perfect. Then, for a while, he was teaching himself to play piano, practicing for over an hour at a time. There is a name for it- it might be "hyper-focusing", but I can't remember for sure.
 

JLady

A ship lost in the night
My difficult child gets in that mode. Whenever he has something new, he just can't let it go. If he gets frustrated it is awful because he just can't let it go. Like he is obsessed to figure it out. He has been doing this with his school work but it hasn't been a problem except getting him to move on to the next thing. He is fine in the evenings.
 

klmno

Active Member
I think it is be BiPolar (BP), but I'm not sure if it's only seen in BiPolar (BP) kids- the evaluation'ing psychiatrist said some of this in difficult child was leaning toward Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), although he didn't yet meet criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
 

lillians

lillians
my 17 yr old will do this,, its quite a sight,, the rest of the time he is fairly floating,never done homework or brought any home,,but does get into these modes where by he is still and creative for hours,then wham its over and the activity starts
 

smallworld

Moderator
It depends. It can be obsessions related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), mission mode related to BiPolar (BP) or hyperfocus related to ADHD. Take your pick -- LOL!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
We had times like this with Wiz. I can remember him missing 4 days of first grade because he decided to learn multiplication and division from a workbook my parents sent. He would work on it in his room until 3 or 4 am and then just be exhausted.

I KNEW he wasn't learning anything in school (he was on a 5th grade level and they were insisting he do 1st grade work - it was horrible) so I let him stay home. The teacher fought me until I went to the Superintendent of schools with the work Wiz had done. Luckily, it was my Uncle Frank! He looked at Wiz, at the work, and said Of Course he would need to miss school if he was working on that until 4 am. What was the problem??

The teacher REALLY had it out for me after that (we just had a mutual hate prior to that) but she didn't do much because she knew I wouldn't tolerate it.

anyway, that focus can be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Aspergers, or at least it was a combo of that for Wiz. My mom said I did similar things.
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
Yup. It can be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) obsessions, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) perseveration, BiPolar (BP) mission mode or ADHD hyper focus, or a combination of the above.

Jen, if you can help your difficult child to channel the focus and energy, it could become a very useful skill for her. Directed in the right way, you can get an incredible amount done in a very short time.

Trinity
 

Jena

New Member
wow so we all go thru this, pretty much? Smallworld, yes take our pick is correct! LOL. So, being that difficult child has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and some adhd and presumed BiPolar (BP).............just throw it in a pot and mix it up!!!

I can't always direct it positively, if i could i wouldn't umm be here !! JK Seriously though at night is the only time it truly becomes focused, during day it's just all over the place with-her from here to there and everywhere pretty much!!!

I have her do artwork alot, I did during the summer mos. when i wasn't worried about school. the stuff she did was beyond amazing, i wish i could past it in here. She wrote recipes of her own for food, she'd write magazines, detailed with illustrations and articles on current events made up on her own. Songs she also would write, she seems to have a innate ability towards music, and notes. she sees it once and owns it sort of thing. When she's in that mode she does brilliant work.

Can you imagine if we could all figure out how to get our kids directed with all this energy all the time? Wow, and without the needs for medications. ok dreaming here..........lol
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Yes, K did a whole 2nd grade workbook and wrote a comic book and built a *dog house* out of cardboard... on Sunday!

She was Go, Go , Go.... non-stop. But calm in a creepy way.
But heck I like this over the anger, violence and rages!
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
difficult child 2 was like this tonight.

Usually, it takes him f-o-r-e-v-e-r to finish homework. Sometimes it can take him three hours to get through 20 math problems.

But tonight, for whatever reason, not only did he finish his math, Latin, essay outline, social studies and spelling -- but he got it all done after basketball practice, using husband's iPod (don't know how he can concentrate with songs -- me, I can only use music for studying if it's instrumental) and in just two hours without anyone nagging him to stay in his seat! He just sat and worked and worked and worked. He's in bed now and it's 9:50pm -- I guarantee he'll be awake for awhile tonight. I can hear him in his room fiddling with stuff because he's so wound up.
 

Jena

New Member
i spent sometime looking on web once a while back at what historians, musicians, etc. that had bipolar. it amazed me to see who was diagnosis with it. incredible minds, brilliant ppl, ppl of which changed our world.

these are amazing kids we have. i know it doesn't always feel that way, believe me lol. yet if we can like trinity said find a way to redirect that during those periods of high actiivty hypomania manic whatever we want to call them it can be so beneficial for them.

i've been trying to teach her see when you feel this way, let's do this. she often doesn't even need redirecting at night. she's amazing when she feels that way she immediately says to me i have to work now!! I say ok what is it tonight, so the other night she chose math. hello one of her least favorite subjects in school.

the school thnks i'm crazy thought lol. they dont' see her behaviors. i had rosalie greenberg md. i spoke to her once on the phone last year when i was despertaely searching for answers. anyway she told me it's often the BiPolar (BP) kid won't display their behaviors during the school day except for the anxiety that is. i said wow than your saying they have a level of "control" which throws off alot of other things you read. she said when their in their atmospher, environment where they are comfortable is where their behaviors are most present. hmmm. interesting.
 
Trinity Royal, I ALSO HAVE difficult child DOING LOTS OF ART AND MUSIC AND EXDERICSE; A GREAT CHENEL. sShe can accomplish a lot. She did competitve volleyball skills in an maaxing manner. Right now she is being trained to work at the Humane Society -she gets alot done very quickly. She has baeen doig a lot of holiday creations. Iam tryng to enjoy the break!!!! She plays guitar, sings, and has bee drwing more and more. We haved been goig to Micahel''s a lot of craft stuff. Compassion
 
She also tends to demonstrte incredible control and vents on me. This is somewhat better. We will see she wil be home all day today. Comppassion
 
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