Hi All. I have one child who is 11 who has been diagnosed bipolar. I can relate to her, and "see" the reason for this dx. But my older daughter, who is 13, has one of the strangest personalities I've ever seen. I've been told she's ADD.. but my gosh.. it's one type I've never seen before then. Of course, she was only seen twice for this, so a clear picture was never there for therapist.
She is a child that is very self centered. She wants to stay in her room and have nothing to do with her family most of the time. She sticks her nose into books and is lost to the world. She gets onto the phone with her friends (who number greatly) and she seems totally out of control. Very loud, almost hysterical sounding. Everything to her is a drama.. you cannot speak to her without her snapping that you are "criticizing" her. She can be horribly rude to others, to the point of telling her friends to simply.. "get out".. when asked what they did to annoy her.. she tells them.. I want you to get out of my house NOW. She has NO empathy at all, she can't understand (or maybe doesn't care) others feelings. One minute she is almost 'normal' teenage acting, then the least little thing will be said to her and she flies off the handle. She has a lot of problems sleeping, and tends to stay up late at night. But still manages to get up and make the bus on time. She tested near genuis level on IQ tests a few years ago.. yet almost failed the last two years of school.
A couple of her friends have told her that she is "bipolar" and she was complaining about this to me... and it made me wonder. Could this be the issue? Is any of this familiar?
My other daughter is impulsive, a little odd sometimes, moody. But nowhere near the mood swings that the older one has.
Thanks
Sarah
I'm not procrastinating----I'm still doing yesterday!!!!
I have no medical training, any medical opinions expressed in my posts are just that....opinions.
She sounds so much like my 21 year old at that age, younger even. I mean, they could be identical twins. Is she bipolar? No telling. My daughter has never been diagnosed as such. She's never really had a clinical depression that I know of, but is EXTREMELY high strung, very moody, self-centered, and will tell you straight up, no tact whatsoever. Bites her nails to the quick. Likes her alone time, and when she found out her boyfriend cheated on her (she did forgive him) she punched him in the face hard enough to split his lip. She is also loving, caring, and a wonderful parent.
She did treat her friends like that. Maybe not the phone thing. She never was much of a phone person. But is also extremely bright. And can be a loner.
She may be bipolar. As it stands, we just consider mine a little eccentric. I"d have your's checked out simply because you've already had problems with this disorder in the family with one of the children, but she may just be a little different. Mine will still read to the exclusion of all else, (she doesn't keep books around most of the time because she won't do anything else), but has mellowed somewhat with age. She's learned a little tact, and has much more self control than when she was younger.
Sometimes it's illness, but sometimes, they're just not like everyone else. Each of my children seems to have a "glitch" or two, but I think that keeps them unique. Society is so busy trying to fit our children into nice tidy molds, that every unique aspect of their personalities are starting to become disorders. Just my own personal opinion.
I know it isn't easy to deal with an intense child like that. But I survived it, and her daughter shows signs of being just as intense as she is. Hehehe. (She's getting a little of that back, lol)
On the up side, while she did lip off to a couple of teachers, she never got into any real trouble, and by her later teens was much easier to get along with.
Take Care
Ellie
Good judgement comes from experience and alot of that comes from bad judgement.
She did treat her friends like that. Maybe not the phone thing. She never was much of a phone person. But is also extremely bright. And can be a loner.
She may be bipolar. As it stands, we just consider mine a little eccentric. I"d have your's checked out simply because you've already had problems with this disorder in the family with one of the children, but she may just be a little different. Mine will still read to the exclusion of all else, (she doesn't keep books around most of the time because she won't do anything else), but has mellowed somewhat with age. She's learned a little tact, and has much more self control than when she was younger.
Sometimes it's illness, but sometimes, they're just not like everyone else. Each of my children seems to have a "glitch" or two, but I think that keeps them unique. Society is so busy trying to fit our children into nice tidy molds, that every unique aspect of their personalities are starting to become disorders. Just my own personal opinion.
I know it isn't easy to deal with an intense child like that. But I survived it, and her daughter shows signs of being just as intense as she is. Hehehe. (She's getting a little of that back, lol)
On the up side, while she did lip off to a couple of teachers, she never got into any real trouble, and by her later teens was much easier to get along with.
Take Care
Ellie
Good judgement comes from experience and alot of that comes from bad judgement.
Unknown
Thanks Ellie.. that really lifted my spirits. Maybe you are right and it is just "her". I don't think I will start the medical merry go round with her just yet... I'll see what this school year brings. She wants (and has a good chance) of getting on the school softball team, she was an Allstar for ASA this year.. and that will make her keep her grades up, and keep her off the phone a bit..lol.
I know that sometimes parents and kids just don't "connect"... I can't understand her way of thinking and she can't understand mine. So maybe I'm just too judgemental of her, since I AM using 'my' scale of normal.
Thanks again for giving me a 'parental boost'.
Sarah
I know that sometimes parents and kids just don't "connect"... I can't understand her way of thinking and she can't understand mine. So maybe I'm just too judgemental of her, since I AM using 'my' scale of normal.
Thanks again for giving me a 'parental boost'.
Sarah
I'm not procrastinating----I'm still doing yesterday!!!!
I have no medical training, any medical opinions expressed in my posts are just that....opinions.