About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Learning to De-Stress

And it's about time, at 43, that I embrace the discipline of relaxing.  Yes, discipline, because for most of us the tendency to freak out, stress out, hold our breath, pull our hair out, is the natural inclination rather than taking a deep breath, viewing the crisis in perspective, unwrinkling our brows, relaxing our shoulders, and in general simply refusing to allow someone else's mess to determine our own emotional state.  Easier said than done, but I am tired of being stressed out over what others think of me, my house, my clothes, my kids, my husband, my math skills (no cash register at work!), my homework-helper skills, and so on.  Life is too short to take on someone else's opinions, worries, bitterness, and anger.  Why do I say no to my own needs and yes to everyone else's wants?  Why do I make excuses for not doing the important because the trivial gets in the way?

We all have our flaws and our struggles, but if we lived our lives with the perspective that people are more important than stuff, schedules, money, and careers, than we would all slow down and have far more quality in our lives.  I am all for it.

1 comment:

E said...

Megan- I so agree with this- we spend way too much energy focused on others opinions of our lives. I say "walk in my shoes" and then see why I make the choices I do. We can only do our best each day- who cares if the dust bunnies build up or my hair has not been highlighted in 6 months? I love my kids and my husband and choose to make them my priority- but try to remember that you also must be a priority- I was lamenting to my husband that I was a "bad mom" for some very benign comment I made and his comment was - "self preservation is not being a bad mom" Words of wisdom for sure- sometimes self preservation means focusing in on the really important things- who cares what anyone else thinks about all the other stuff...