I finally was able to pick up the medical records and found out that my difficult child has bipolar and ODD
who diagnosed her?
a medical doctor or the counselor you mention.
if it wasnt by a medical doctor then please take smallworld's advice and find a child psychIATRIST as soon as possible.
a counselor cant prescribe medication. in my opinion, if thats is who this diagnosis is coming from they were way out of line by neither discussing it with you and referring you to a pyschIATRIST in your area to determine an appropriate medicine regime for your child.
i'd really be concerned if its even a accurate diagnosis if its on the counselors word, and maybe even more so if this is some other random doctor who doesnt have the
expertise to make such a diagnosis.
she could be bipolar. maybe its set in stone and you are comfortable that its an accurate diagnosis. maybe i'm not interpreting your post right. but you are implying this was some kind of surprise to you that you saw in a file, and that sends up red flags.
but there is a LOT of overlap in pyschiatric disorder symptomology, autistic spectrum disorders, even adhd. throw in 10 year old hormones and honestly, you need someone to tease out an accurate diagnosis and treat appropriately.
not just some random reference in some medical file.
to answer your actual question---there is a small part of the population that reportedly does nicely with alternative methods--diets, supplements, etc. but even if you decide to try that approach you need medical guidance. there is some validity to supplementation and dietary approaches in general, but supplements ARE still drugs, and diets can be difficult to do on your own.
thats for a doctor to help you determine.
