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!

Monday, September 14, 2009

No Local Support Group Yet

Back in March, I said I was forming a local Tidewater Area support group for parents of kids with early-onset bipolar disorder. I never got it off the ground, because I saw that there are NAMI support groups here. However, I really wanted to form one associated with CABP because I think that would be much more suited to the specifics of EOBD. Adult-onset bipolar disorder is so different from what our kids experience that I want to be under the CABF umbrella with all of their expertise from which to borrow. I received a survey just recently from CABF asking if I wanted local CABF groups to start forming, and I checked yes of course.
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2 comments:

Debbie said...

I'd love a support group in my area. We have NAMI and another group for children with behavioral problems but nothing for just bipolar disorder. good luck with this adventure. I should look into it as well.

September 14, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Megan said...

Let's see if I can do this. Do look into the CABF stuff.

September 14, 2009 at 9:46 PM

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