Children with manic depression?
Q.During my weekly chat with Mom last weekend I found out that my cousin's 10- year-old son has been diagnosed with manic depression after going completely ballistic at an after-school program and threatening to kill himself and/or fellow students. He'd been taking Ritalin and various other drugs for ADHD. Now he's in the psychiatric wing of a local children's hospital for long-term evaluation. There's a history of depression and mood disorders on his father's side of the family. Does anyone else have experience with manic depression in kids? I'd like to be supportive somehow, seeing as I'm in therapy for dysthymia/mild depression myself, but I'm not sure what would help a child.
A.what I know is this: My oldest son was diagnosed with ADD 5 years ago. A few months bach he started to show signs of depression too. His doctor said that bipolar and ADD can look very much alike, esp in children. They can also coexist, making things harder to read. My son's doc is playing it simple for now, and not going off and fully treating him as if he is bipolar, rather she put him on Wellbutrin which is for depression but also works well with ADD. Everyone is different. You can only do so much. If you don't feel you have it in you right now to be supportive to this little boy, then it ya, it might be a good idea to keep some distance. I don't know how much different it is for an adult or child who is manic. You might, at this point be supportive as a third party. Give as much support as you can throuh your mom or cousin. Let the docs look after the boy. Most of the books out on Manic Depression also known as Bipolar Disorder have chapters regarding children in it. Also you may want to take a short trip to the library to read about it. Knowledge is a key to learing and accepting and then knowing how to help. I would treat this girl no different than anyone else, but with patience and understanding. Going in to see her maybe. Don't talk about it or ask her about it unless she brings it up. I personally at this age would forego the flowers and balloons for the "ill" and bring her in kids magazines and books, or something she likes to read or do. Cards, a game, etc.... Manic depression in children usually has different symptoms than an adults manic depression. Most children who truly do have manic depression were misdiagnosed as ADHD before so this is no surprise.
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