any one out there could tell me any thing on how to tell if your child (teenager) has bipoler as well as autism , what to look for , how to tell wheather problems are down to autism or bipoler , any infor would be greatful for mariax
If your child exhibits extreme highs and behavioral lows - very happy one minute and angry/sad the next for no apparent reason, this is a symptom of bipolarism.
Autism is a huge spectrum, but basically is social abnormality. May be noncommunicative (unable to speak). Able to speek but not follow through a sentence on the same thought. If asked a question, the answer may not at all be relevent.
Of course, if you suspect something is not right, check with a doctor. With autism and bipolar, especially autism, these are difficulties that are noticed earlier in life.
Teenagers go through a lot of hormonal changes. This can affect them psychologically as well. Best to check with the doc, and don't give up until you feel your child is getting the assistance he/she needs.
It depends WHY your child is having the mood swings to determine whether it's due to autism or bipolar disorder. Are they always due to some specific trigger, like being interrupted in the middle of a task or by being in a room with flourescent lights? This would indicate the autism. Sometimes, the trigger is very minute and subtle, and it looks like nothing happened to cause the outburst. You have to really search for it. However, if the mood is pervasive and doesn't seem to respond to environmental triggers, then this is a sign of bipolar disorder. People who are bipolar cannot "switch off" their depression or (hypo)mania. It's there until the episode ends, assuming there isn't any medication intervention, that is. Pure bipolar disorder, with clear-cut episodes of depression and (hypo)mania, in children is very rare. In bipolar children, the episodes may be very, very frequent, and the child may appear, as sjs40 said, to be happy one minute and sad the next. Classic mania in a child is quite uncommon. But any type of psychotic behavior along with the mood would signal bipolar disorder (or schizoaffective disorder). I just wanted to point all of this out because several doctors (and myself) suspected that I was cyclothymic (a very mild form of bipolar disorder), when it was really just my undiagnosed Asperger's. I'm the epitome of a child who was happy one minute and miserable the next. I still can be like that. The psychiatrist at my school put me on the mood stabilizer Lamictal last fall, and that has helped me immensely with my moods, but I am still set off by environmental triggers. A certain tone of voice or abrupt request can cause me to become very nasty, but then once my obsessive fixation is mentioned, I'm extremely happy. This isn't seen in bipolar disorder. Good luck, God bless, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
-GatsbyLuvr1920-
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"Not everything that steps out of line, and thus 'abnormal,' must necessarily be 'inferior.'"
-Hans Asperger
Last edited by GatsbyLuvr1920; 01-08-2007 at 11:23 PM.
everyone THOUGHT i was bipollar, but i know what a horor those meds are, so i never even let them try to diagnose me.
but i was just undiagnosed aspie also.
it seemed like nothing caused my mood swings, even to myself, and i Still get them, but the more i pay attention and look very carefully, the mor eive noticed there ARE triggers to my mood swigs, theyre just So hard to notice. like if im in a group a certain size, or if im around certain types of light, or my clotsh are uncomfertable, or something someone says to me i take teh wrong way, being interupted or having a schedual messed up. having a bad hair day, misplacing something, or even just something like remembering a social mistake i made. someone touching me, having to make eye contact close-up,
the list goes on
those things might sound like nothing to some poeple but to me its so frustrating sometimes
be Careful if you have your child evalutaed though, there are some docters who are awfully shotty with diagnosis out there, i call them "med-happy" docters for the unessisary proscriptions and the irritating laziness of the misdaignosises,
i mean i know a reiduclaous number of poeple who have been falsey diagnosed with disorders that are way more rare for childnren than youd think with how stats of diagnosis show. you would not belive how many people tried to tell me i have ADD even, ADD my foot.
from what ihave heard, austic kids have the Worst teen years, so honestly i wouldnt be jumping the gun to worry if its BP, mood swings are so totally normal, even amoung perfectly normal kids they can get so moody as teens.
my brother is now 12, and his moods freak me out, i have to wonder "could i really be worse?" im sure i am, i feel bad for my boyfreind, i must be like the biggest handfull. scratch that, im 2 hands and a basket full.
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Please excuse any gramatical/spelling errors, I have a verbal disability.
thanks for that, my sons moods are extream to not knowing from one min to the other what mood his in, his not school say there dose not seem to be a reason i have always looked for reasons but cant always find one,some times he seems to be looking for a reason to have a go ,cause an argument,i was told it cant be bipolar because he gose from a high to a low in a matter of minuits and that bipolar was over a longer peoid of time, is that true,his on prozac at moment as i felt he had somesort of break down a few years back it help as far as him going out, as would not leave the house, but aggression and mood swings still there,i also found out that there is a family histroy of depression,on husbands side was told that it can be related, i have meeting tomorrow with teacher ,doctor ,as pulling out of school so i might mention it if its a possibilty what do you think or am i being daft and it just autism he has alway been so happy up to 3 years ago mariax
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