Could my child be bipolar or have any other mental condition?

Question

My 81/2 yr. old boy has been a difficult child ever since he started walking and talking. Now he is impossible! In 2nd grade, he can't be bothered with school - hates it, although extremely smart (but only in what interests him). He just started to swear, calls me and my husband names, and is very violent - hits little brother (3yrs), friends, has tantrums, and could care less about consequences. Nothing scares him, and he has no respect for others OR himself. His pediatrician and his now 3rd counselor say it's "only" behavior, and that it will pass - but it's just getting worse. I have him on a behavior modification chart where he earns allowance or faces consequences - it worked for 2 weeks, and now he doesn't care. I have taken away everything that has any meaning to him - toys, heelys etc. There's nothing else to take away. He now threatens me and my husband that he will run away or kill himself. I have read countless books on behavior, but nothing works.....
I am clueless.

We have been to a psychologist and psychiatrist, he was determined to have borderline ADHD. On ADD meds. he goes more crazy and violent, even has ticks.

Taken to a neurologist at age 6 - the tests and scans showed nothing! IQ tested in Kindergarten as 128. He is demanding, and needs attention 24/7, if he does not get it, behavior spirals out of control. He gets praise for all good he does, and lives with two very loving parents.

Answer 1

Time to get a new pediatrician, perhaps get him in to see a professional psychiatrist. A "counselor" isn't going to cut it. It could be any number of things, but if it continues to get worse, you need to be proactive in finding out what is wrong. That means trying every doctor possible until one comes up with a real solution. Good luck!

Answer 2

Okay...I am very sorry that you have to go through this with your son. I do know what you are going through...my 9 almost 10 year old has been suffering with ODD since he was dx'd at the age of 4. Yes, really, 4!! That was the first time he said he was going to kill himself, and much to anyone elses dismay...he had not heard that from anyone before!!! He also talked about hearing someone tell him to do bad things. Yes, this does happen, not only in ODD, but also in BiPolar, and many other diseases. This is such a HARD and frustrating thing to deal with because anything you try, taking toys away, positive rewards, everything becomes 'boring' for lack of a better word. When this happens, the devices you have chosen for discipline do not work anymore. We have been to psychiatrists, psychologists, and behavior therapists. The one that worked the best for us was the behavior therapist, but not for long, worked for about 6months, so longer than anything else....but not long enough. He used to be very well-behaved at school so therapists wouldn't believe us that he had a problem(all my fault...I have a problem, not him) yea right!! Now however, he has been acting out in school the last couple of years real bad this year, he gets angry or bored and he just up and walks out of school!!! He actually, this last two times got 3/4 of a mile away before they caught him. Boy did the school get a thrashing!! LOL Anyway, we are taking him to another psychiatrist to try some medication now.....we heard that they are using ablify on kids now and have been getting some great progress...so this is what we are going to try now. I do know that the ADD meds make this condition worse, try and get off of them, maybe ask about ablify. I don't know...One thing we were told was to keep repeating discipline routes we have taken when he gets bored with one, go to another and back and forth.

Good Luck To You
Momma P

May Angels Walk Beside You

p.s. the website that jess gave is really good for info on ODD.

Answer 3

What is scary to me is how different one psychologist or psychiatrist can be from another in determining what is wrong with a child and how to treat it. Maybe you do have a child that will be later diagnosed as bipolar and maybe not.
It sounds like some psychologists have said it was a phase and he would be better with time, and others have prescribed meds that would help a child suffering from ADD but did not work for your child. That would indicate the diagnosis was wrong or for sure the medicine was.
You have described having a child that is very intelligent and maybe getting him involved in as many activities as possible would be money better spent on him than the psychiatrist.
At least you could see if it helps. See what activities he is interested in and get him involved. Think of things that challenge his mind and his physical activity level and will push both. Some sports can do that. Camping can do that. Gymnastics, Trips to museums, planetarium, whatever fires his rockets. He may resent his little brother if he feels he is the center of negative attention and is defined as being the "bad" child or "the child that needs help", while his little brother needs protection from him.
What strikes me is him saying he will "kill himself" if he doesn't get his way. It sounds like he may have been asked in therapy if he ever thought about killing himself, and he found this statement to have a shock factor with you. I don't know. How do you react when he says something like this?
I think as many activities as possible might help him. It doesn't sound like your behavioral chart worked or it could be that it became more of a power struggle.
When a person has a challenging child, it is natural to want to put a label on what is causing the behavior, but maybe put those aside, and see how much you can challenge and work off that extra energy and quest for mental challenge that he has.

Answer 4

As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, this does not sound like a "behavior problem" or a "parenting problem."

Your son could have Pediatric Bi-Polar Disorder, he may have O.D.D. and could have ADD, Inattentive Type all going on at the same time.

Highly recommend you get him into a Child Psychiatrist. Often a mood stabilizer, such as Abilify, can do wonders. I find counseling working with the Child Psychiatrist works best. Find a counselor who specializes in ADD, ODD, Pediatric Bi-Polar and is willing to interact with the parents and child psychiatrist (make sure the child psychiatrist is also willing to interact with you and the counselor).

Answer 5

First off, his threats to harm himself are the priority here, especially due to his history of violent behavior. I am perplexed somewhat that he was not hospitalized for this and kept safe while medication issues were explored. I know alot about bi-polar and it is VERY difficult to diagnose a child of this age with bi-polar. Not knowing what meds have been tried, it is tough to know what works or doesnt work. If I were the doctor (after he is stabilized for suicidal ideations) I would suggest trying clonodine and possibly an anti-depressant (probably Zoloft). Sounds like some issues are bothering him immensely. Counseling is very important, however violent behavior and mentioning suicide very much would concern me. Best of luck and dont blame yourself!! C~

Answer 6

He may suffer From several diffrent issues, and at the same time he may have a behavior problem, best advice is pay a child phsychiatrist the 150.00 and get him tested and talked too, there may be medicene that can help and maybe a series of counciling sessions, but whateve ryou do please do it fast if it is something chemically embalnced its unfair to have him live that way, and makes it hard on you and your husband as well, seek help NOW.

Answer 7

you should take him to a neurologist..a specialist I say this because my best friend has a boy he is 7 and sounds just like your son..he is very very smart but lives in his own world sometimes, he can be violent with his brother and animals...I could go on and on but I wont..they told my friend it was behavioral and ADD, turns out it is Aspergers Syndrome, this is on the scale of Autisum..don't give up, ask them if it could be Aspergers.... don't let them blow it off...look it up there are lots of web sites about this. make them listen to you...Good Luck to you and your family..

by the way I just read "Jess's" post they also told my friend ODD as well and it wasn't....no offense "Jess"
children that are autistic or have Aspergers have very high IQ's they are very smart children but they almost do not have common sense. there is not test persay (ie catscan mmr) for it you should ask your neurologist what he thinks

Answer 8

He has a mental disorder, I would assume.
He needs love. He needs to know his family loves him. He needs to have friends who love him. He needs to love himself. He can do this starting with praise for whatever can be praised. Starting with the smallest tasks you give him, like clearing the dishes from the table. Responsibility will help him feel autonomous, and seeing the consequences of his actions will help him gain as sense of moral responsibility.

Above all, he needs love. That's the final answer to everything. That's where the power is, if he loves you, and know you love him, he will make it, and be just fine.

Answer 9

I'm so sorry to hear this. It sounds like he has Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Here's a link with more info on ODD:
http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+with+Oppositional+Defiant+Disorder§ion=Facts+for+Families

I think you should take him to a child therapist who specializes in ODD so that they can help him.

Good luck.

Answer 10

i think its time to take him to see a phycartist