Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
I have bi-polar. Mine are more downs than ups. However I know it is different for children. I'm having a lot of trouble with finding information on it that pertain to adults.
Anyway, she has been diagnosed with O.D.D.. I have problems with her behavior, how she reacts to everyday situations. She is abusive to pets, and angers easily. Most of her problem behavior She has had a couple issues at school. She is in therapy for her speech and for mental health. As well as a Pdr. She doesn't go back to Pdr. until end of month. Because of how busy my schedule is with family appoinments and having to use the cab ( I don't have a car and we're a family of 6) makes it hard to get a sooner appt.
She seems to go from happiness (hyper at times) to "lows" of anger. She hasn't really seemed depressed. But, they switch fast between the two or more.
Any advice on how to help her until we can get to the Pdr.? Or what it may be if not bi-polar?
Anyway, she has been diagnosed with O.D.D.. I have problems with her behavior, how she reacts to everyday situations. She is abusive to pets, and angers easily. Most of her problem behavior She has had a couple issues at school. She is in therapy for her speech and for mental health. As well as a Pdr. She doesn't go back to Pdr. until end of month. Because of how busy my schedule is with family appoinments and having to use the cab ( I don't have a car and we're a family of 6) makes it hard to get a sooner appt.
She seems to go from happiness (hyper at times) to "lows" of anger. She hasn't really seemed depressed. But, they switch fast between the two or more.
Any advice on how to help her until we can get to the Pdr.? Or what it may be if not bi-polar?
Also if she likes to draw pictures that may help, I would not recommend painting because it could get messy.
I can't use my car anymore right now because it needs work but cab
is expensive, try to see if you can take the bus unless you don't like
riding the bus or feel safe.
Also if you are friends with your neighbor you could carpool or have
them give your daughter a ride.
If she gets angry probably you could just say calm down because there is not really a great comeback if someone just tells you to calm down.
I don't know a lot of about O.D.D just more Bipolar but you could just look for things that might trigger this and try to find out how to fix it.
What has her pdoc said about all of this? I'm assuming he/sheknows about this behavior? Why hasn't he/she given her a diagnosis of bipolar or something other than ODD? What is ODD anyway? I don't think I've ever heard of that before. I've heard of OCD though. If it were me I would try to juggle some things around and get her in sooner than the end of the month especially if she's lashing out and abusive. Just my opinion.
I don't know what to tell you about her behavior other than when my son was younger he got angry easily (still does) and I would calmly pull him off to the side, make him slow down, take some deep breaths, think about why he was mad, have him explain what the right behavior was and sit down for a bit. Once he was calmer I would talk to him about his behavior and tell him it was unacceptable and what did he think his punishment should be and we would discuss it and come up with something we both agreed was appropriate.
If he was mad at another person and acted out he would have to apologize to that person. We also taught him how to calm himself down during an "episode" before it escalated. He never hurt animals but did start to selfmutilate by cutting himself. He has been diagnosed as unipolar, however, we are thinking he is bipolar actually as he has very high highs and very angry low lows.
The most important thing we did during an "episode" was remain calm. We were firm with him but never screamed at him because he would just get angrier and shut down. He still struggles with his temper but he self-manages it now as he is an adult.
I'm not sure if this helps or not. I would consider getting her into therapy as well as her pdoc. I am angry when down and therapy has helped me greatly. I'm not sure if it would help or not but if it were me I'd try it. I know it adds one more thing to your busy schedule.
It sounds a lot like my bipolar cycling. From high to angry, no depression. If I had to guess I would say she's bipolar but I'm not an expert.
Good luck Waddles. I hope she gets the care she deserves from her pdoc. Hang in there. Why not try to do some research online about childhood bipolar disorder? Maybe you can pick up some tips on there on how to deal with this behavior.
Laura
Can you explain a little of what ODD is?
* ODD is described as an ongoing pattern of anger guided disobedience, hostilely defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior.