Bipolar Worksheet

[anotherday]

This is the best online worksheet I've seen describing the symptoms of bipolar in an understandable way.www.time.com/time/covers/1101020819/worksheet/.

My difficult child is doing so much better since he began a mood stabilizer, I'm kicking myself that we didn't try it a lot sooner. I had read about BiPolar (BP) and didn't think it applied to my son. But now I see that what I thought was ADHD hyperactivity was really BiPolar (BP) mania. And what I thought was Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) related irritability and aggression was really BiPolar (BP) depression. I am learning so much.

It took a medication trial of three different mood stabilizers before we settled on Depakote. But it was well worth the effort.

I hope someone else finds this worksheet useful.

Elise

 

i just took the test for B. i've done similar ones before at doctor's offices too. he has about 36 of the 41 characteristics. did have him on medications up until this summer. he'd leave after we went to work and come home after we went to bed.......so no medications this summer.

 

Thanks. I thought it was great. My kid scores a 25. He's on Depakote already and it's helped but we're not there yet. psychiatrist appointment next week. Hoep we're going to talk about trying a different one.

 

[my girl]

Out of 41 ?'s my difficult child had 38 of them checkmarked

And her school and biomom still refuse to acknowledge her two psychiatric evaluations.

You got to love Family Court and the battles parents do to each other at the expense of their children...arghhhhhhhhhhh....as the mad woman venting at the senseless waste of a child's future mumbled off into the sunset.

A very good survey, very concise.

 

Please don't be hard on yourself, it can take YEARS of trial and error with psychiatrists/tdocs etc, to come to some sort of diagnosis....I call it putting puzzle pieces together. My son is on lithium and doing better at home. He still has impulse control problems, especially at school, but I have his psychiatrist, therapist and pediatrician all trying to help. When you have a good team it makes all the difference.

 

[Kat&Vikki]

FYI -- there are only 40 questions; there is no #36.

difficult child has 32 out of 40 plus 3 he shows intermittently and 2 he exhibited in the extreme on a regular basis when younger.

The only ones that I have not seen are fasination with blood and gore although he does seem to like the "darker" side of things; he doesn't curse viciously in anger primarily because he doesn't know the proper words yet - he's been substituting for years. The last one -- complaints of boredom -- he's rarely uttered these words. Probably because his behavior leaves very little room for boredom.

 

[alexisjoanv]

My difficult child scored a 23. So the question still remains... bipolar or not?

The psychiatrist doesn't think so, and he's one of those who will diagnose a young child with bipolar. It does run in our families, but so does ADHD, depression, and schizophrenia, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). A lot of the items I checked would also apply to ADHD and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD).