Replies to '08/01 Extreme Highs and Lows'
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March 5, 2006, 9:25 pm PST
 Quote From: missmouse
My son who is 6 has it and was diagnosed 2 years ago. And he can go from perfectly fine to, well I don't like the word "Psycho" either, but exhibiting very disturbing behavior like the switch of a lightbulb, he has had very delusional behavior and it just breaks my heart. He is on some "antipsychotic" meds right now that help even out his highs and lows better than the Lithium did, so while the term is not really accurate, at my house some days it seems like it! Not to make light of this disorder, believe me, I've spent the better part of 19 month reading almost every book I can on childhood bi polar and just bi polar in general, as a mother I have to be my son's voice best advocate. One his really bad, highly manic days, he can seem to others (who don't understand what bipolar is, or who are just plain ignorant and don't believe it can happen in kids that young) he may seem "psychotic". Hopefully the preview is not actually Dr. Phil speaking, but just part of the video clip..... from the shows I 've watched since the beginning, Dr. Phil doesn't seem one sensationalize or trivialize anyone with a mood disorder or any other type of illness.
I wish you luck on your journey. If you can offer any advice to this lost mom for dealing with my son, I would be eteranally gratefuly! Oh, my son also has co curring ADHD, which makes it even more of a challange... but I digress.... He sees a very good psychiatrist, who prior to moving to this area, headed up the Harvard Children's Mental Health Facilty, he also has a degree in Pharmacology, so I trust him with the medications he recommends, I also have a child psychologist and an educational pyshologist for my son. (along with about 15 books for me!)
Take care, and we'll "chat" after the show!
Victoria Hi Victoria,
Thank you for your response. I can't imagine having this illness as a child. To have it sometimes feels like someone has the remote control to your mind and is changing the channel at a rapid rate. It happens so fast and your thoughts fragment and twist off in every direction. I can't imagine how frightening and confusing that must be for a child.
Can he articulate to you how he is feeling? An advantage I have as an adult is I can observe the thought patterns and the different types of feelings and react, learning all the time about the illness and how to combat it. Plus I can explain it to my psychiatrist. My psychiatrist and psychologist are awesome. It's great that you have great professionals working with your son.
I think bipolar disorder mimics ADHD for a lot of people. That's because the disorder makes it difficult to concentrate. They thought I had the same dual diagnosis for a while, but it turned out to be just the bipolar disorder. I'm not saying that your son's diagnosis isn't correct at all, I'm just saying that the two illness are similar in a way.
I respect Dr. Phil and I don't think he would sensationalize the illness, but the intro on this site concerned me which is why I wrote what I did. It is a tremendous responsibility to do a show like this and it isn't often that the illness gets this kind of exposure.
You take care as well and I will write a follow-up after the show.
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March 6, 2006, 2:59 pm PST
Quote From: missmouse
My son who is 6 has it and was diagnosed 2 years ago. And he can go from perfectly fine to, well I don't like the word "Psycho" either, but exhibiting very disturbing behavior like the switch of a lightbulb, he has had very delusional behavior and it just breaks my heart. He is on some "antipsychotic" meds right now that help even out his highs and lows better than the Lithium did, so while the term is not really accurate, at my house some days it seems like it! Not to make light of this disorder, believe me, I've spent the better part of 19 month reading almost every book I can on childhood bi polar and just bi polar in general, as a mother I have to be my son's voice best advocate. One his really bad, highly manic days, he can seem to others (who don't understand what bipolar is, or who are just plain ignorant and don't believe it can happen in kids that young) he may seem "psychotic". Hopefully the preview is not actually Dr. Phil speaking, but just part of the video clip..... from the shows I 've watched since the beginning, Dr. Phil doesn't seem one sensationalize or trivialize anyone with a mood disorder or any other type of illness.
I wish you luck on your journey. If you can offer any advice to this lost mom for dealing with my son, I would be eteranally gratefuly! Oh, my son also has co curring ADHD, which makes it even more of a challange... but I digress.... He sees a very good psychiatrist, who prior to moving to this area, headed up the Harvard Children's Mental Health Facilty, he also has a degree in Pharmacology, so I trust him with the medications he recommends, I also have a child psychologist and an educational pyshologist for my son. (along with about 15 books for me!)
Take care, and we'll "chat" after the show!
Victoria Your son was diagnosed at 4? Wow, that is pretty early. From my understanding it much less commmon infor an onset in young children than in adolescents and young adults. Given the strong family history though, it does not sound like a strange thing in your case. I'm curious....are they using the anti-psychotic as a mood stabilizer or was he actually having psychotic episodes? Also if he was having psychotic episodes did the Dr.s do a test for schizoprenia? They can be linked disorders. In the future (especially in the teen years) I would advise you to watch for symptoms of schizoprenia(for example extreme paranoia or butterfly speech), it's always good to be cautious. Ask your Dr. if there is any research about diet and the symptoms of bi-polar disorder. It might also help to monitor his behavior as indicators of his moods and record them in a journal if you can by day (make sure to note any changes). Be sure to discuss your findings with all of his Dr.s and psychologists ,. if there are any changes that seen odd to you let them know right away. Good Luck |
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March 14, 2006, 12:34 pm PST
Quote From: missmouse
My son who is 6 has it and was diagnosed 2 years ago. And he can go from perfectly fine to, well I don't like the word "Psycho" either, but exhibiting very disturbing behavior like the switch of a lightbulb, he has had very delusional behavior and it just breaks my heart. He is on some "antipsychotic" meds right now that help even out his highs and lows better than the Lithium did, so while the term is not really accurate, at my house some days it seems like it! Not to make light of this disorder, believe me, I've spent the better part of 19 month reading almost every book I can on childhood bi polar and just bi polar in general, as a mother I have to be my son's voice best advocate. One his really bad, highly manic days, he can seem to others (who don't understand what bipolar is, or who are just plain ignorant and don't believe it can happen in kids that young) he may seem "psychotic". Hopefully the preview is not actually Dr. Phil speaking, but just part of the video clip..... from the shows I 've watched since the beginning, Dr. Phil doesn't seem one sensationalize or trivialize anyone with a mood disorder or any other type of illness.
I wish you luck on your journey. If you can offer any advice to this lost mom for dealing with my son, I would be eteranally gratefuly! Oh, my son also has co curring ADHD, which makes it even more of a challange... but I digress.... He sees a very good psychiatrist, who prior to moving to this area, headed up the Harvard Children's Mental Health Facilty, he also has a degree in Pharmacology, so I trust him with the medications he recommends, I also have a child psychologist and an educational pyshologist for my son. (along with about 15 books for me!)
Take care, and we'll "chat" after the show!
Victoria This sentence disturbed me to say the least. I'm a 23 year old female who was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder in the summer of 2003. What people need to understand is this. "Bipolar" covers such a wide range of symptoms that everyone can't be classified under one term. Some people have hallucinations, some have irratic behavior and others (like myself) just clean more when we're manic, and sleep more when we're depressed. I've been fighting with people since the day I was diagnosed. My boyfriends parents went on a rampage to have him leave me because they were afraid i'd kill them in their sleep. I have already written Dr. Phil on my opinions of this show. That show only cemented their fears. I wish he had shown people who live with it every day, and aren't "psycho". We all need treatment, but most importantly, WE'RE HUMAN. we have feelings, we're not a shell with a brain. People talk about us like we're not there, like we're institutionalized. The truth is, being bipolar i've done better on exams in college, written better papers, ran faster than other people. It's not a disorder that affects the level of intelligence. We're intelligent, functioning people (some of us) and a lot of us are living in fear and not getting treatment because we don't want to deal with the stigma. It's out of control. This is 2006... not 500 B.C. people need to pull their heads out of their rear ends and become educated before passing judgement. Just my opinion of course.
Rebecca |
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