Bipolar Disorder in Kids

(https://bipolar.newlifeoutlook.com/bipolar-disorder-in-children/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Article_Share&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1uAAe-vxExM2fbwULYpB37wmRaQG5V4NDemW7SbihCPm6PGBsMKA7dBzg_aem_3pJ31LkI1zUoZ6TyAYGlG)

Yesterday I came across symptoms of bipolar disorder in children. I was diagnosed as bipolar type 1 at age 21 although a therapist first suggested it when I was nineteen. But apparently bipolar disorder symptoms can appear when a child is only six years old. I read a list of how symptoms may manifest in children, curious if I could spot any patterns in my childhood. I believe I began exhibiting certain symptoms at age eight (three years later I would also be diagnosed with OCD). 

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder in Children:

• Severe separation anxiety. I had very bad separation anxiety as a child. I remember my parents once sent me to stay with my Grandma and Poppy during the summer. I absolutely adored my Grandma and Poppy and they would always plan fun things for us to do. But I had a really hard time being away from my parents especially my mom. When I was eleven, my mom went on a trip with her cousins to Florida. I was absolutely distraught. I think both parents were surprised at how difficult it was for me.

• Rapidly changing moods. This is evidenced in my diary which I started keeping at eight years old. It wasn’t unusual for me to go from “I hate my life” to “I am quite happy” within a few lines. 

• Destructive rages. I did not experience this. I didn’t like being destructive.

• Loss of interest in play. This is embarrassing but in second grade I didn’t play with other kids. I would walk along the perimeter of the playground talking to myself and making up stories in my head. More than one teacher had tried to engage me with other children but I really wasn’t interested. It was like they weren’t there. Which is weird considering how social I am now. My third grade teacher actually had to call my mother and tell her she was worried about me and that I didn’t seem to have any friends. 

• Severe temper tantrums. I was no stranger to temper tantrums. I always thought I was just being a brat and now I realize I might have actually been bipolar. I once actually kicked a hole in the wall during one of my fits of rage. Not to mention the screaming and crying.

• Bedwetting and night terrors. I never from either as a kid although as an adult I do get frequent nightmares.

• Compulsive creativity. I was extremely creative (yet another reason I was able to amuse myself for long periods of time). 

• Delusions and hallucinations. I started hallucinating in college but in elementary school I did have this delusion that one of my teachers had romantic feelings for me. This freaked me out so much that I even have a page in journal dedicated to ways of killing him (ex. “Feeding him poisoned cake”). I was terrified of him. I would often pretend to be sick so I wouldn’t have to go to class. 

• Precocious sexual behavior. No, I was never sexual until I was sexually assaulted at the age of fourteen.

• Racing thoughts and pressure to keep talking. 

• Constant irritability. I don’t remember being particularly irritable until I was a teenager

• Unnatural sleeping. As a child I always had trouble sleeping. I would frequently report to my journal “I couldn’t sleep last night”

In adolescents two more symptoms are added:- abusing drugs and alcohol (which I did)

Difficulty in personal relationships (which is why the only relationships I have with nonfamily members are college onward)