Families of Depressed & Bipolar Kids Community

I'VE WENT THROUGH SOME OF THE SAME THINGS AND I HAD TO TAKE MY SON TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL AND GET HIM EVALUATED. MOST OF THE TIME IF THEY ARE SUICIDAL THEY ARE ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL. THESE HOSPITALS USUALLY ARE 24 HRS AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THEM SEEN. YOU SHOULD GO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BEFORE SOMETHING GOES WRONG. GOOD LUCK!

I would take your son's words very seriously, and next time he has an explosive and / or suicidal episode I would take him to the hospital's emergency room. This is no way to live and not okay.

Meanwhile, I would call the child psychiatrist's office daily, telling them how seriously your son needs help and see if they can see him sooner - - - someone might cancel an appt. and you can get in sooner.

It would be better to see a child psychiatrist first........but if your son has an explosive episode, you don't want him to hurt himself or anyone else - that is why I recommend the emergency room. A hospitalization will get him evaluated and medicated sooner.

Poor guy, he needs help desperately. Please read the BIPOLAR CHILD, by Dr.s Demitri and Janice Papolos. It is a great wealth of information that will help you deal with what is going on inside you young son.

Please take good care, and watch your son closely. -Kathleen

Thank you. I found a psychiatrist who would see him next week and a play therapist who is going to start seeing him two days after. I was surprised at the number of offices that dismissed me and relegated me to appointments more than a month in advance, even though I told them of the urgency of our situation.

In the meantime, I anxiously await some kind of official diagnosis and tools to help us cope with my son and his extreme outbursts.

Thank you for your book recommendation. I will purchase a copy soon.

I was informed that there were only two opptions for these situations, one call a suicide hot line, two call the ambulance. These situations require immediate attention and this would cut the red tape on appointment delays. My daughter never got to this point thank god but I eventually realized her safety and the safety of others was precident

You need to take him to a hospital immediately. I have gone through the same thing before and thought they would take him away. They do not take him away from you...they will evaluate him and if his behavior merits it they will admit him. This is the best recourse for you,your family and most of all your child. Good luck...

I just posted this to another person with a 7yo with similar problems. I will post it here to see if what we went through will help you....

Hi ~ I have a now 11yo son who went through many of these issues also. 3 years ago he was seeing a therapist twice a week and we were also seeing several specialists for several medical problems. To make a long story short, we went to an allergist, had an almost hour long visit and in going over everything about my son the allergist felt that many of his problems were due to allergies and felt when we got them under control, the other issues would resolve themselves. We found out he does have food allergies and did an elimination diet which consists of removing the offending food from the diet. The changes in our sons health, behavior, anger, depression,etc, were amazing! Family and friends noticed a huge change in him not knowing we were doing this. Lately we have been careless about what he eats and he has been back to his old ways with the uncontrollable anger, crying, depression, bad behavior, not listening, can't concentrate, bad grades, incomplete schoolwork, headaches, etc etc. We are now starting what i call a major "detox" of the "poisons and toxins" we have been feeding him. I have never been a health quack but seeing this with my own eyes has made me a believer. Its certainly worth a try for your son's health and wellbeing. I just couldn't stand the thought that I was willing to put him on physicatric meds and treat a problem that I, unknowingly, was causing by putting this bad stuff in his system. If you'd like to check out forums.delphiforums.com/AvoidingCorn/start, you will read alot of interesting stories of so many other children and adults who have discovered this also. Good luck to you, your son and your family. ~A

I'm so glad to have found this! My seven year old started having twenty minute screaming attacks at the age of 21/2. She's been in therapy constantly since. Her attacks evolved into extreme separation anxiety in preschool and shifted to attacking the school counselor in kindergarten. The counselor would have to physically restrain her to keep her from hurting herself or others. This extreme was new and unseen by me. She had virtually quit having attacks at home. By the end of the year, I had to go three times in one week to pick her up. We had some time when the attacks were fewer in first grade, but were more intense, then a quiet spell...until early November. She had an extreme attack at home. It was extreme and it was long, and it was very violent. She turned her mattress off her bunk bed, picked up the coffee table, and threw several kitchen chairs across the room. I was on the phone with her brand new therapist most of the time and called 911 as per his advice if I felt like she was putting people's health in jeopardy.

...that was the second, and they keep coming and she's getting more violent with me. She had one in the therapists office, went quiet for two weeks, and had one at the park today. I had to restrain her for twenty minutes, till I could get a car there to take us the one block we had to go to get home. She bit through my lined, vinyl jacket and left a perfect print. ugh!

Her father and I are both bipolar. I'm medicated he is not. At this point, I'm sure she's showing clear signs of bipolar.

I guess my questions are, does anyone know of a good, tested medication, and how do I get her to calm down???? When she's having an attack, I stay completely calm and non reactive and am extremely careful when restraining...but I'm starting to worry about my safety. I can keep her from going into the street, but can I keep her from injuring me seriously?

I guess my questions are, does anyone know of a good, tested medication, and how do I get her to calm down???? When she's having an attack, I stay completely calm and non reactive and am extremely careful when restraining...but I'm starting to worry about my safety. I can keep her from going into the street, but can I keep her from injuring me seriously? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To answer this question I would say Risperdal is a good starting med. Does you daughter have a child psychiatrist she sees? Children usually need several meds to stabilize (adults also, as you know). My 8 y.o. dd is on Seroquel, Risperdal and Lamictal.

Safety is a huge concern, for yourself and your daughter. I hope you have been able to find a good child psychiatrist well versed in EOBP to treat her.

Write back anytime with other questions or concerns. Take care, -Kathleen