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My grandson is 10 years old. When he was 9, my daughter took him to the doctors and they said that he had adhd. So he was put on medication which totally changed him. He was now very quiet, he seemed so grown up. His outburst were gone, his school work improved, but also his happiness seemed to disappear. You could look at pictures before and after and the twinkle in his eyes was gone. He would hardly laugh anymore. Then he started to have little outbursts again and they upped the dose. He kept having more outbursts. Then my daughter took him to a psyciatrist and they now say he is bipolar and have put him on different medications. It has been about 3 weeks and the only thing it seems to have done is to make him sleep at night. I am not sure if they have diagosed him correctly. Let me give you a little insight as to why I am unsure if he is truely bipolar. He lives with his mother and stepfather; they live in Ms. and his father lives in Va. He does not see his dad only for about 4 or 5 days out of the year. He has 2 sisters and 2 brothers who are all younger than he is. All of the other children have someone to call "dad" everyday, he doesn't. He does not know that 2 of his siblings are also stepchildren,the stepfather has been in thier lives since they were babies. His stepfather is not attentive to any of the children,but especially the 10 year old. He provokes him and makes him feel unwelcome in his own home. When his mother works, my grandson stays in his room. My grandson never showed any violence or anger towards his mother until about a month and a half ago. He is very thin, almost anerexic looking, but he gets up in his stepfathers face and screams and threatens him. He has even gotten a hammer and scissors after him. Now he displays his extreme anger to his mother. When he sees his dad, he also has a stepmother who treats him differently also. He is supposed to be going to live with his dad this weekend. He says that he doesn't really want to and leaves notes for his mother. He has never been away from his siblings. He tells his mother that if his stepfather was not there, that he would stay. He has been through alot in his 10 years, and I am not sure if all of this is symptons of bipolar or a broken hearted boy who does not know of any better way to get his feelings across. I will say that I have seen his anger displayed and he is enraged. He is showing his anger to his siblings also. He would always say that he helped to take care of them because he loved them. Now he threatens them. I think it resents them for having thier "dad" with them. Please, if there is any light that anyone can give to help shine some light on this I would appreciate it. You can also contact me at dsra8531@yahoo.com
