1/31/15
My child was nine before I finally realized that maybe I needed more help then I originally realized. She was always a “handful” but I just assumed that was a typical child. She thrived at school. She had friends and was decent to teachers and staff, enough that they considered her an average student, academically and personality-wise. It seemed at school she went un-noticed by adults but at home she had frequent mood swings. She could be happy for minutes to days then all of a sudden be screaming and yelling at me.
When she was happy I was happy. I am a single mom; it is just her and I, and our little dog. But when she was angry even I was scared. She would throw things and scream, “I hate you! I hate all of this!” When she was coming down from one of these fits it was as if nothing happened. One day she took a swing at me, hitting me in the eye. I knew that this wasn’t just normal behavior.
I made an appointment with her doctor to discuss her behavior. He suggested that she might have bipolar disorder. Maybe there WAS a reason for her behavior! He referred her to a local psychiatrist. From there we had an initial appointment where she was asked a ton of questions. Eventually, the psychiatrist agreed, she most likely had bipolar disorder. My daughter has begun a medication regimen and is seeing a therapist weekly.
She is doing much better. We are doing much better!
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