Question:
I have a son who is being subjected to numerous tests to find out if he
is ADHD(he is 15) In talking to a therapist about this...he stated
that BPD has not been seen in younger adolescents but that depression in
this group does seem to be a precursor to BPD. My question is
this...just because the medical community has not Dx'd this in children
does that mean that it does not exist? I mean...after all a parent will
take a child for treatment when they notice him withdrawing and in
general slowing down or becoming agitated...but if the child swings to
hypo-manic... he is just a happy go lucky kid that... as is
normal...rarely considers the consequences of his actions...
Answer:
As a single parent who is a Bipolar, I'm very aware of the
tendencies and behaviour my kids are showing considering they've got more
than a 50/50 chance of picking up the glorious genetic trades dad's
carrying. They are both great, happy loving kids and I'm looking at
things like social interaction, speech development, attention span,
moodiness, sensitivity, phobias, dietary preferences, organisational
styles and preference and most anything else I can observe and that comes
to mind.
In retrospect it was pretty obvious to me that there was that
little something in my youth that set me apart from the rest that I can
also identify as a precursor toward my Bipolarity. I don't plan to wait
until my kids develop substance abuse or adolescent melancholia or
depression before I try to accommodate and prepare them for things to
comeI am 34, and just receiving productive
treatment. My mother, a nurse, my father, a surgeon, and my present
shrink all now agree that I have been bipolar all of my life.
Unfortunately, not much was know or publicized at that time, and my life
before now have been one disaster after another. Mom: "we always thought
there was something wrong, but didn't know what to do about it". EEEK! I also have a seven year old daughter who is bipolar and beginning
treatment. My shrink says there is a lot of misdiagnoses between ADHD
and bipolar disorder. The problem there is, the sooner treatment begins
for BD, the less devastating the effects later in life. It was a hard
decision to let him put my daughter on medication, but all I needed to
do was take a look at my life. I want better for her.
