Anyone whose child has childhood onset bipolar disorder?

Boston32

New Member
Hi,

I posted last week about my 7 y.o. daughter who was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD...The neuropsychologist report did mention the possibility of bipolar disorder but there wasn't enough criteria to diagnose her with that.

She is very aggressive, throws horrible and destructive tantrums when things don't go her way, she teases and gets silly at home (she can go from raging to silly over the course of 30 min), makes graphic threats to kids on the playground if she is angry. Her teacher (who is exceptional) reports she is generally very good in the classroom and most of this aggression goes on during unstructured time. It goes on ALL the time at home though and is truly ruining our family life. She is starting with a new therapist this week but my husband and I are feeling hopeless.

Anyone out there with a similar situation?

and most importantly...what symptoms did you see in your child that led to a diagnosis of BiPolar (BP)?



Thanks
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
Hello and welcome, that's one of several diagnosis's my Kiddo landed with. She's still a work in progress but progress is being made :)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hi there and welcome to the board.

Can you please tell us a bit about her history, from infancy on? Bipolar can be a misdiagnoses and a dangerous one because of the heavy duty drugs used to control it. My son was misdiagnosed with bipolar for three years. I suggest more research before you go that route. Except for the US and Canada, no other country diagnoses bipolar in children...and they still don't know how many children who are diagnosed as children with bipolar actually develop bipolar when they get older.

How was his early development and how is his ability to socialize with his same age peers? Any quirks? Any seperation of caregivers in his early years? The more you tell us, the better we can give you advice.

You may want to do a signature like I did below.
 

Boston32

New Member
Here is a little more info: She was fine as an infant, fine as a toddler...that is, until her brother was born when she was 2. She was always very jealous of him and it caused stress in the household. From pretty much then she became difficult, willful, and threw tantrums that continue to this day. her diagnosis of PTSD came from witnessing a minor incident of domestic violence between my husband and I. I was not hurt but called the police anyway to set a precedent and my husband was arrested. This was right before she turned 5.
Shortly after this is when her behavior turned for the worse...more aggresive and mean and some trouble with other kids. She just got worse and worse until we found her a therapist to work through what she had witnessed and her behavior started to improve. Unfortunately this wonderful therapist that she had moved away and we ended up with a horrible one who we finally got rid of. At this point her behavior has regressed horribly and we just found her a new therapist, thank god.
I am wondering if this one incident could have possibly scarred her forever? She was difficult to begin with but witnessing domestic violence may have pushed her over the edge. I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has had a child experience trauma and then become a severe behavior problem as a result?? The possiblity of bipolar was brought up, which obviously is a chemical imbalance and not caused by environment.
She does have friends and tends to play very well much of the time but can also be a terrible bully with certain kids. I don't get it
Hopefully this is enough information for anyone else to weigh in with their thoughts...
 

Mama Raygun

New Member
Hey Boston!

I had sort of similiar experience with my son, this past June he witnessed my husband his father have a terrible panick attack. we thought he was having a heart attack and had to call 911 and he was taken away in an ambulance. it was really really bad, husband was on the ground holding his chest and just kept saying over and over n'im dying im having a heart attack' it was bad it traumitized my older son and me as well as J, who was just about to turn 6. He definately did take a turn for the worse behavior/anxietywise after that. before that we just thought he was a wild and crazy boy, now its obvious there is more to it. I would be leary of diagnosing such a young child with bipolar. i was misdiagnosed with bipolar when i was about 15, just make sure you get a second oppinion if thats what they decide she has. Good Luck!!!!
 
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