What is bipolar and how does one know one has it? My son sometimes gets hyper and active and screeches and other time he gets moody and mad. I wonder
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goldenviolet
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God bless you. there is many types and syptoms can mirror other things; including normal things. your pediatrician will have a way to see if you need to have him evaluated. !!
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goldenviolet
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oh boy! speaking as mom of teenagers it sure can. a doc once told me that on top teen moodiness, their body chemicals cause added moodiness. it depends on kids. i have one who is bipolar and one who is dysemic (spellings wrong).. anyway, it's my two middles ones without disorders that are more moody than the two oldest with! 
it sure can. a doc once told me that on top teen moodiness, their body chemicals cause added moodiness. it depends on kids. i have one who is bipolar and one who is dysemic (spellings wrong).. anyway, it's my two middles ones without disorders that are more moody than the two oldest with!
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alaurie
Welcome, Preston!!!
goldenviolen is right - your pediatrician is the best place to start since it's hard to guage what's 'normal' crazy pre-teen or teen hormones.
Here's a list of red flags to look for. If some of these have been present for most of his childhood, and there is bipolar present in other family members, and his behavior is getting more severe, then it's probably a good idea to get him evaluated.
http://bipolar.about.com/cs/kids_diag/a/red_flags4.htm
My cousin's 7YO (on my dad's side of the family which carries the genes) has had a lot of these symptoms so I asked my psychiatrist one visit how she handled bipolar children. She said she advises parents not to give the child a 'label' of the diagnosis until they're old enough to own and accept it without causing the normal teen feelings of inadequacy to be worse, unless of course it's a pretty strong case and the behavior is bad enough that the child needs treatment. She said she also encourages parents to limit the child's extracurricular activities to one thing they really enjoy. She said overloading them and not allowing them plenty of downtime worsens the symptoms.
As far as medicating, she said she tries meds for ADD first and doesn't like to give any of the anti-psychotics that are indicated for bipolar unless it's a really bad situation, and then she tries low dose Seroquel on an as needed basis.
Praying for you and your son
Some of the above red flags for me were present from birth (night terrors and insomnia), bedwetting as an older child, and my migraines started at age four. I had bouts of depression starting in childhood that got horrible as a teen. I would've loved to have known earlier than my 30s what was wrong. I always knew something was different, and heaped a lot of spiritual condemnation on myself that I wouldn't have had I understood the genetics and brain chemistry. The information just wasn't out there when I was a child, especially for BPII which is my diagnosis.
Here's a list of red flags to look for. If some of these have been present for most of his childhood, and there is bipolar present in other family members, and his behavior is getting more severe, then it's probably a good idea to get him evaluated.
http://bipolar.about.com/cs/kids_diag/a/red_flags4.htm
My cousin's 7YO (on my dad's side of the family which carries the genes) has had a lot of these symptoms so I asked my psychiatrist one visit how she handled bipolar children. She said she advises parents not to give the child a 'label' of the diagnosis until they're old enough to own and accept it without causing the normal teen feelings of inadequacy to be worse, unless of course it's a pretty strong case and the behavior is bad enough that the child needs treatment. She said she also encourages parents to limit the child's extracurricular activities to one thing they really enjoy. She said overloading them and not allowing them plenty of downtime worsens the symptoms.
As far as medicating, she said she tries meds for ADD first and doesn't like to give any of the anti-psychotics that are indicated for bipolar unless it's a really bad situation, and then she tries low dose Seroquel on an as needed basis.
Praying for you and your son
Some of the above red flags for me were present from birth (night terrors and insomnia), bedwetting as an older child, and my migraines started at age four. I had bouts of depression starting in childhood that got horrible as a teen. I would've loved to have known earlier than my 30s what was wrong. I always knew something was different, and heaped a lot of spiritual condemnation on myself that I wouldn't have had I understood the genetics and brain chemistry. The information just wasn't out there when I was a child, especially for BPII which is my diagnosis.
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