Hi, Ive not been around for abit but im back now. hope everyone is ok. :wave:

I just want to ask, can my children become bipolar? the reason i ask is that my oldest lad as just turned 10 and he is showing signs of bipolar now. He gets really moody and as bad tantrums were he swears and kicks out, my mum as slapped him a few times for swearing at her and has to sit on him to calm him down. My ma is only 4'11 and my son is 4'12 and he is a big lad. I'm really worried that he could end up bipolar like me. If he is, is there anything that i could do to calm him down? He is also a emotional person, like me and often gets really upset and he often gets depressed.

Yes, children can have early-onset bipolar disorder. It is much more common in those children who have a lot of "bipolar genes" in their family tree as your son does. It is quite rare for a child less then ten to be bipolar; if they become bipolar later on in life, they may show ADHD-like signs as a child that turn out to really be signs of early-onset bipolar disorder. Watch your son's behavior closely. This may be something else entirely, or it may be the beginning manifestation of bipolar disorder. Just remember that a lot of psychiatric disorders involve moodiness and strong-willedness in children. I once read a list of the symptoms of early-onset bipolar disorder, and I fit almost all of them, but I'm not bipolar. I have Asperger's. My psychiatrist and I both suspected cyclothymia for awhile because of my mood swings, which is why I was put on the mood stabilizer Lamictal. If your son gets any worse, or seems to be struggling with the moods he's already having, it would be advisable to take him to a doctor and maybe consider putting him on medication. Good luck, and God bless! :angel:
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

definitely
i have been bipolar my whole life. bipolar disorder can be genetic. you should definitely get him in treatment. hope all goes well.
much love,
dove:angel:

There is a great book called, "The Bipolar Child" that will tell you everything you need to know. If I were you I'd get it tomorrow! Good luck!

My son is 5 and has bp, adhd and odd. His doctor started him on stimulants for adhd and said that if he had a mood disorder these would worsen. That is exactly what happened, and now he is on an antipsychotic (abilify) and its been a 360in just a few days. He is happy and listens and when he starts to get mad, he quickly turns it around and is able to stop. Before he had rages that lasted 20-30 minutes or more. Definitely bring your son to a child psychologist to see what is going on as a lot of these disorders have similar symptoms. bpkids.org is a helpful site. I have been talking to many parents of children with mood disorders and every child is different, and respond differently to different meds. Good luck and there is help out there !

Michele