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 Bipolar D/O in Children 
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I must commend Rachel for her intelligent idea of asking about personal experience for her advocacy project. We have the priveledge about being in about 50 of the same classes, so I will mimic what she did in a recent post.

What do you know about Bipolar Disorder? (Aka, Manic Depression). Do you know anyone who is affected by it? (Meaning with the illness or has it in their family or has a close friend with it, or do you know someone??) How have you seen them deal with it?

Second part of the question: Do you remember anyone having the affliction in school? It is quite possible that you wouldn't have any awareness of the d/o at all, since manic depression in children is a reletively new field with many unknown boundaries.

Basically, tell me what you know about the disease, if you have known anyone with it, and/or how they have dealt with it. Also, if you could let me know if it is alright to quote you for my project. THANKS!

*Something to start you off: A couple of examples of personal experience with this d/o. My father has it. I wasn't aware of it until my parents explained it to me in my mid-teens. (He was diagnosed when I was about three). Since then, my father has started a support group for those with this illness as well as those who have a friend or family member with it.
Also, I dated a guy for about a year who was afflicted with manic depression, so I have dealt with it in a relationship as well. But I want YOUR experiences! Thanks again!!

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Mary M


Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:45 pm
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I worked with a guy who we all said was bipolar, but I'm not sure if he is medically diagnosed. He basically had really extreme mood swings within short time periods. He became impossible to work with and eventually was fired because of his temper. It was a stressful job, I know because I've held that position myself, but how he was acting wasn't normal.

I also had a friend who is medically diagnosed as bipolar. I went on a few dates with this guy and the first few times we hung out he was very sociable, but before very long he just started acting weird. That's the best way I know to describe it. His friends told me soon after he started this odd behavior that he was bipolar. The next few times we hung out (whenever he decided to show up) he wouldn't talk to anyone. He acted like he didn't even want to be there. One night in the middle of a movie, he jumped up like something bit him on the rear, put on his coat, and without saying bye to anyone, exited through the back door - which meant he had to go all the way around the apartment complex to get to his truck. It was so weird. When he goes through his spells, he doesn't know how to interact with people.


Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:06 am
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I have a few friends who are bi-polar. Two of my friends this year have it, and it seems to be a bit of a crippilling illness. My one friend, we'll call her Hannah, is bi-polar and when she's on a "high" or happy she is one of the most fun people ever. She talks a lot and laughs at everything and is a lot of fun to be around. When she gets on a "low" however, or depressed, which can be set off by anything, she can't even be around people because she is constinitly getting angry at people or crying at the smallest things. She can't even do homework at these times.

My boyfriend of three years in highschool also had bi-polar, however his unfortionatly led to Schizophrenia. A lot of people who are born with bi-polar are pre-disposed to schizophrenia and should definitly not do any drugs. Schizophrenia is a different story, it is something in which the person has hallusinations and is not completely sure who they are. My uncle had it but his was induced by taking too much acid in the 60's and 70's. Today he thinks he's Budda and is in and out of the mental ward.

I'm not saying that everyone with bi-polar will get Schizophrenia, but it is possible. One last example. My best friend, we'll call him Chris, has delt with bi'polar his whole life. His mother is bi-polar and self-medicates with alchol when she is in her "lows." When she is on her "highs" she's a great mom, careing, helpful, and loving. When she is on her "lows" however she yells, puts Chris down for everything, and is very critical of everyone. The smallest thing can set her off and she usually drinks to feel better, which just makes things worse because then she is not clear headed enough to know what she is saying, and it is at these times that she says the most hurtful things to Chris. Two days ago, for example, she told him that he was a no good son who would never be able to do anything right and that she was waisting her money putting him through school. Even though he knows she's sick, he was very hurt by it. When I went to England with them and she forgot her medicine, I know I could hardly stand her, and non of her comments were directed towards me. I spent the time simply trying to avoid her with Chris.

What's so sad about this disorder is the person has no control over their feelings unless they are on the medicine and after a while on the medicine they think they are cured, but they will never be cured. Another sad thing is it affects the people around them, even if they don't want to hurt the people around them they can't control they're anger and sadness.

This is what I know about it, hopefully my info is correct. If anyone knows if I am not correct or anything else I would love to know about that too, because the more I know about it the more I understand my friends who have it and the more I can do to help them or stay out of their way when they need to be alone.

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Sarah Concra


Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:52 pm
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My brother was diagnosed bipolar, but personally don't think the doctors were correct. It seems that in recent years doctors are too speedy in diagnosing patients. I'm not quite sure how it affected him in the classroom, because he also had LD and ADHD so I dont know if I could distinguish. He took a lot of meds and used other natural remedies to help with all his disorders and eventually got to a point where he was happy and functioning pretty normally.

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Susanne M Olson


Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:34 pm
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One of my roommates is Bipolar, but he refuses to take medicine for it. He thinks that people in older times had disorders like Bipolar and ADD, but they just lived with it, and so can he. But everyone really can tell a different every now and then. One day he'll be loving life and really be energetic and ready to go out and do something. But the next, he'll want to just sit around and do absolutely nothing. This change can even happen in the middle of a day too, I've seen it several times. We've tried to get him to take medicine, but he thinks that medicine is a sign of weakness. Coming from a family in which both of my parents are pharmacists, I would have to say that medicine is an incredible thing and I wish that he would take some to level out his mood swings.

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Matt Cobb


Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:19 am
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