Families of Depressed & Bipolar Kids Community

I have an 11 year old son who I am sure is like many of yours. He is very kind, funny, loving and very smart, but when his moods are not stable he is out of control!! We try so hard to set limits and consequence, but we suffer from rages when we try to reinforce them. So sometimes we find ourselves just ignoring some behavior because of the fear of the repercussions (you know the whole pick you battle stuff). He often attacks his older brother for no reason at all!! He has hit both his father and me during rages and damages property by throwing things and punching holes in the wall. We have not resorted to calling the police, but I fear as he gets bigger and stronger I will not have much choice. He had a 2nd hospital stay last month and they started him on lithium and I do believe it is helping. We still do have some bad days, but the rages have decreased. He still loves to test the limits and argue about almost everything but at least everything is not ending in a rage. I find him starting to get worked up but then he is able to calm himself down or allow us to talk him down before it becomes a full blown rage, not always but sometime, which is better than before. Prior to the hospitalization he was only on abilify now he is taking both the abilify and the Lithium. The most difficult thing about the lithium is finding the right dose for therapeutic levels. My son is in the therapeutic range but at the very low end so I think if we increase it a little he would be even better. Many people are afraid of the lithium because it can become toxic if the levels become too high, but this should not be a concern if it is being monitored properly. To be honest I feel better about giving the lithium than the abilify, due to lithium being around for many, many years and we know what the true side effects are. I feel for all of you mothers, fathers and children out there along with the grandparents and other family members, it is not an easy life living with mental illness in your home. It is an awful exhausting illness, that leaves me wondering most days if I can do it all again tomorrow!!! I know we all love our children more than anything and the best thing we can do is love them and show them that even when we feel like we may not like them very much at that time!!!! This is my first post on any message boards and I thank everyone for sharing your stories and concerns! It helps to know we are not alone in this!!!!!!!