Interesting development since difficult child has been on lithium

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
He says he visualizes things more. Like, when he's really mad at me, instead of just feeling mad, now he "sees" my face and his hand smashing me in the face.

Uh, gee thanks.:sigh:

Actually, I wanted to say, "Congratulations! That's a step in the right direction because if you can visualize it, you can visualize changing it, too, whereas just being mad and slugging me and not knowing that you were going to, or why, was quite troublesome."

But I don't think I should congratulate him. Just saying ...:smartass:
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Yea, I agree.....don't go putting any ideas into his head. It is an interesting development though because you're right. If he can visualize it happening beforehand then he should be able to progress to palying it all the way through to the consequences part........eventually.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
No, of course you can't congratulate him on THAT example. But... listen for he next, non-violent one. And pick up on that, work it through. It's a process... for both of you.
 
B

bigbear11

Guest
It is progress. I suppose an awareness that wasn't there before. Could you use even this example though as a teaching moment around "yes that is one thing that could happen but how would that play out? How could we do it differently to solve the problem (whatever made him mad in the first place)?"

Just a thought....
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I'm still waiting for another example ... if nothing pops up by Sunday, I guess I'll use my face as a fallback example. Or something. ;)
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
The longer difficult child is on lithium, the more I see that he could easily be both bipolar and have Asperger's. I've see a lot of descriptions of behaviors before, but this one fits the best:


National Alliance on Mental
Illness
page printed from
http://www.nami.org/
(800) 950-NAMI; [email protected]
©2012




  • Lithium is a medication that works in the brain to treat bipolar disorder. It
    is approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder and acute mania. Bipolar
    disorder involves episodes of depression and/or mania.

A depressive episode, or depression, occurs when a person experiences several
of the following symptoms at the same time: "low" or depressed mood (e.g., sad,
empty, tearful), decreased interest in most or all activities, changes in
appetite (usually decreased), changes in sleep (usually poor sleep), loss of
energy, feeling worthless/guilty/hopeless/helpless, psychomotor agitation or
retardation (i.e., thoughts/movements speeding up or slowing down), difficulty
concentrating,
and thoughts of death (suicidal thinking).

A manic episode, or mania, is when a person experiences several of the
following symptoms at the same time: 'high' or irritable mood, very high self
esteem, decreased need for sleep,
pressure to keep talking, racing thoughts,
being easily distracted, and frequently involved in activities with large risk
for bad consequences
(e.g., excessive buying sprees).



Poor kid. The worst combination of both sides of his bio families ...
Still, I'm glad we have him, because there's no way he would have gotten help if he'd stayed with-his bmom or bgrandmother.
 

crazymama30

Active Member
Terry, my difficult child's diagnosis may not be Aspergers, but he has many traits of that from his Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified diagnosis, and also has the diagnosis of bipolar. I whole heartedly believe he is bipolar and autistic. I always thought the bipolar/adhd label fit, but knew there was something more. Now, the addition of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) really makes sense. I feel like we really know difficult child more, and that I can better empathize with him and that helps me know which battles to fight and which not too. It is hard, but eventually you get to where you can know what behavior is due to what diagnosis, well for the most part. lol

I think it is interesting that our difficult child's got their diagnosis's in opposite order. For us, the bipolar came first and for you it came last.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I think it's partially due to which doctor you see first. In my case, the first person was an MD, who was a psychiatrist who specialized in neurological issues. He totally blew the Asperger's diagnosis out the window and made me feel like an idiot. He spent all of 5 min. with us. So I blew his diagnosis out the window.
Sigh.
Still, I'm glad that I got the Asperger's diagnosis and went with-it, because I think I learned more about parenting skills than I would have otherwise.
I'll never know for sure.

Some days, I'm just glad we're all still alive. ;)
 
Last edited:
Terry - That's kind of a scary admission from your difficult child but I'm glad he verbalized it instead of acted on it.

I agree that those can be teaching moments - more so if he is in a calm state.

I have to tell you that I have wondered if your difficult child is possibly bipolar. Only because I see a lot of my difficult child in him and I wonder if my difficult child is bipolar. Everything I have read 'online' and in books has led me to believe this is a real possibility. But I'm nowhere near being a medical doctor and this is very new to me so I don't have a lot of self-education on the matter either.

Can't say I blame you for not taking that psychiatrist at his word after 5 minutes? How ridiculous is that. I will say one thing - we waited 2 months for an emergency appointment with the paediatrician but he spent well over an hour with us and difficult child. Our psychiatrist appointment is today and it will be 3+ hours for the initial appointment.

I hope you continue to move in the right direction with your difficult child and that the doctors can get this figured out sooner rather than later.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Thank you. I wish I could probe into difficult child's brain and turn off half of his amygdala. I'd smoosh the whole thing, but he may need it if he has to get out of the way of a drunk driver sometime!
I'm glad you finally have your psychiatrist appointment. Be sure to start a thread and tell us about it!
 
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