gcvmom
Here we go again!
Not to steal the subject away here, but I've been reading the thread on "Typical vs. difficult child" and I see some of what's described here in my husband and difficult child 2. And I'm still trying to understand what's going on with them -- because we've been told it's ADHD, but the psychiatrist won't say it's BiPolar (BP), just that it's mood-related.
husband and difficult child 2's problematic behaviors are mostly to the extent of an escalation of activity (often there is some kind of external stimulation going on, but it can also arise after too much time playing video games) to the point where someone gets hurt either physically or there is a perceived slight and then boom! There's an explosion of intense anger, something might get thrown, voices scream loudly etc. The look in their eyes is "out of control" -- pupils dilated and they almost look like they've "left the building". Once the storm passes, which may take a half-hour or more for either one to calm down and come back to almost-center, they act like nothing happened and don't understand why everyone around them is still upset!
Lately, it happens with difficult child 2 when he's hungry or ADHD medications have worn off. How much of this is standard ADHD lack of impulse-control, how much of it is mood-related?
I distincly remember a New Year's Eve in Vegas when husband got angry with me and suddenly started feeding the entire contents of his wallet into a slot machine -- $20 bill after $20 bill... It's like all the noise, and lights, and the stress of having his parents and sisters and their spouses around and then me saying something about money triggered the implosion. He had "that look" on his face, wild-eyed and just not himself and when confronted, was clearly paralyzed to do anything about it, even with me telling him to "STOP!". It took the better part of an hour, maybe a bit more for him to get out of this state and be able to talk to me about what he was feeling.
Again, is it plain ol' ADHD or is it a mood disorder?
husband and difficult child 2's problematic behaviors are mostly to the extent of an escalation of activity (often there is some kind of external stimulation going on, but it can also arise after too much time playing video games) to the point where someone gets hurt either physically or there is a perceived slight and then boom! There's an explosion of intense anger, something might get thrown, voices scream loudly etc. The look in their eyes is "out of control" -- pupils dilated and they almost look like they've "left the building". Once the storm passes, which may take a half-hour or more for either one to calm down and come back to almost-center, they act like nothing happened and don't understand why everyone around them is still upset!
Lately, it happens with difficult child 2 when he's hungry or ADHD medications have worn off. How much of this is standard ADHD lack of impulse-control, how much of it is mood-related?
I distincly remember a New Year's Eve in Vegas when husband got angry with me and suddenly started feeding the entire contents of his wallet into a slot machine -- $20 bill after $20 bill... It's like all the noise, and lights, and the stress of having his parents and sisters and their spouses around and then me saying something about money triggered the implosion. He had "that look" on his face, wild-eyed and just not himself and when confronted, was clearly paralyzed to do anything about it, even with me telling him to "STOP!". It took the better part of an hour, maybe a bit more for him to get out of this state and be able to talk to me about what he was feeling.
Again, is it plain ol' ADHD or is it a mood disorder?