Seeking Mothers of Children with Depression

Hi L.,

I can't say that I have a child with this disorder but I do have a sister and a niece that both have it and it has been rough on the family. I can only imagine what it has been like for you and your family. I will keep you all in my prayers.

Now, log onto Webmd.com, put in bipolar in the search and several websites will be referenced for you that will direct you to support groups and how to handle a lot of the situations that you have faced and what you will face in the future. I also firmly believe that a lot of physcological disorder such as bipolar is due to an imbalance of vitamins, minerals or enzymes in your system. Either the system doesn't process what nutrients you take in properly or extra nurtrients are needed. A lot of things can happen when you take the right suppliments. I would suggest going to a health food store to see if they have any recommendations. The only ones that I can sugguest to you are Goji juice and Mangosteen juice. Both of those products have helps my husband with his stroke side effects such as hearing loss, loss of strength and energy and loss of eyesight. He has gotten a lot better on these products I can't say for sure that these will help your son, but I would experiment with nutritional suppliments. There are so many good things available out there that ca help our bodies naturally.

I think you need to arm your self with as much information as you can get. Support groups will help tremendously and you never know about the nutritional suppliments. Sometimes they can save a life. If you need a shoulder, I am here.

E.

My son isn't depressed but he has a behaviorial disorder with aggression and ADHD.He is on abilify and strattera. abilify is for bipolar. he has shut downs at school and i end up having to go pick him up from school. his behavior is so bad i had a nervous breakdown. i was hospitialized for 5 days. his school is having a meeting tuesday to place him in a hospitial for treatment. i was told that bipolar is hard to diagnose in children and that they can't determine bipolar until adulthood. i am starting to loose faith in the compentecy in his doctor. what do you do to cope and how do you get the doctor to understand what you want done ein the treatment of your child? thanks for posting and reading my reply. A.

First had the doctor suggested you see a pyschologist before uping meds. I had a doctor for my son last year here in knox. All he did was up meds and add meds and add diagnoses. My son could not function. If he was not so half sleep and zomied by drugs he was upset and tensed by not having the right coping skills to handle even minor stress. Finally I quit that Dr. and found a great pyschologist who looked at the chart and said he's being over medicated. Then he worked with him and I hounded the school to revaluated him for Emotional handicap. I do not,like the lable ED. With them seeing these things in school. I got the psychologist to recommend a pysh dr. I could trust. His new Dr. Has him on meds and it appears to be a lot but it works but what helps is that he has on going support and plans in place at school. Come to find out my son for the first year is learning, and functioning in school. He even has friends. The kids in his class understand he is different. Now if yuor sons class mates don't understand and tease him it can effect his treatment and success. If the staff does not understand it can be more harmful then good. I found that most schools are so uneducated about bipolar and how it effects each child differently. Most treat them like they choose to be this way. saying he could control it if he wanted too. He is lazy. Actually most are just as pyshically exhausted as if they ran a 24 hour race at the end of an raging, or stressful day. It takes so much energy from them to maintain. When they can't they have to be faced with the hurt from being teased and the depression of why am I like this. I understand. Advise seek another Dr.'s opinion. Get the school to valuate him. My dau was labled for years as ADHD, then bipolar, and etc..come to find out she is ADD with Asperger's. They had tried her on every medication out there and it made her so sick. At one time her own body was attacking itself and they could not find anything medically to explain why she kept getting sick. I made the choice to take her off everything. she is no long pyshically ill, but struggles. Make sure they have not missed something. My dau spent 10 years struggling in school, and being treated for something she did nto have. She was speech impaired at 3 and supposively grew out of it. NOT! She understands and talks fine. But lang is a lot more then how you speak, it is how you processing information as well. It is hard...I would seek other medical opinions. Ask about trying Lamitcal and abilify. see if it helps. Like all drugs have some side effects my son has had none, and does great. My opinion prozac can make some children with bp more unstable, and depressed.It is not a mood stablizer. The doctor suggested I NOT use prozac. It is an antidepressant, with out a mood stablizer it can cause more severe depression or problems. Let me know if this helps. I have a lot of information of BP in children. You need to read the book The Bipolar child. It has alot of information in it about drugs, therapy, and school stuff.

L., My name is R. and I have a 25 year old who has suffered from depression and anixety attacks for years. She also has a learning disability which did not help the situtaion. It would be to long for me to go into all we have been through, but remember there are a lot of different meds out there all with different side effects and many different doctors if you are not happy with yours now. We have been through some much with our daughter I could write a book. I am going to include my home phone number if you want to call me I can tell you what all we have been through and what we have done Or if you just need someone to talk to I will understand. We have 5 girls who are 25,20,7,6,4 yep! I was crazy, but I would not take anything for them! We finally are going to have a boy (grandchild!! YEAH)

R. D. Hartselle, Alabama home ###-###-####
____@____.com

Good Luck and God Bless you and your family

I would check into finding a new doctor. Especially if he just keeps upping the meds. Be careful with the Prozac. I know all medicines are different for different people, but I took prozac in college for a while and it was NOT a good thing. At first it was great, nothing mattered and I was totally laid back. Then it started to make me angry and cry all the time. One time I even sat rocking back and forth just crying. I hated myself and just wanted to die. So please be very observant with your son and the prozac. I don't mean to scare you, just want you to be aware. Prozac has been wonderful for some people, I know. But it wasn't good for me.

Hello my name is K. and my son is 11 and has all the signs but they say it may be bipolar but want diagnosis him with it. I would love to talk to you about and I'm not sure if we respond here or share emails or what. I'm so glad i found this website to help. My sons behavior is out of control. Please email me we may be able to share ideas or tips.I was wondering if you had as many problems at school as I have had?
Thanks K.

My 14 1/2 year old daughter has had depression problems since 4th or 5th grade. I though at first it was she was in a class with several children who had learning and/or behavior difficulties, but her problems persisted. She started high school this year (9th grade), and was overwhelmed almost from the beginning by honors courses. She had an emergency appendectomy barely a month after school started, which put her behind. She became very stressed trying to catch up, then began to give up.

She refused to attend school the last 2 weeks of the semester. She went back for 1 day after the holidays, then againg refused to go. We had an assessment at Lakeside, and were referred to a counselor.

She started back to school. The guidance counselor with the approval of the principal allowed her to forgo the makeup work and just take the exams. Everything seemed to be going fairly smoothly. She dropped from honors classes to regular ones, and dropped the foreign language in favor of a directed study hall.

Yesterday she refused to go to school claiming she had a headache. She refused again this morning. She fought me physically, locked herself in the bathroom twice. I called my husband at work for help. He managed to get her in the car while saying some very unhelpful things. I got her to school, but she wouldn't get out. I ended up taking her to Lakeside again. We are hoping, after today's assessment, that our insurance will pay for a day program. She has been diagnosed with depression/anxiety disorder, and tentatively with oppositional defience disorder.

She can be so good and obedient outside the home, gets along well socially, but so hard to deal with at home. I have wrestled with the thought that I should have been more harsh, or less harsh with discipline. I don't particularly believe in spanking, but my daughter has not been responsive to other things I've tried. I realize at this age she is attempting to reach for independence. What makes things even more difficult is that my husband has the same sorts of symptoms, but doesn't think he has any problems. He has not learned any parenting skills in the almost 19 years since our son was born, and spends a lot of time putting me down. He will not admit to having any kind of problem. I have been on Zoloft myself for almost 4 years, which has been a God-send for me.

If you can, insist on your son's meds being re-evaluated. If you think it wise, change doctors. I know it takes lots of courage, but remember, you know your son better than anyone else except God. If you'd like, feel free to contact me.

I know the feeling of depression. Mine comes on with stress and lately I've had a lot of it. I don't know how it feels to be in your situation with such a hard diagnosis for your young boy. How did the doctors know what to look for? What kinds of things happen to lead the doctors to that conclusion?

I have two close in age childeren and two nieces that I just had fall into my lap. Ages 5 (niece), 3 (daughter), 2 (niece), and 1 1/2(son). My sister in law got into trouble and we got her kids. It is extremly hard makeing adjustments but whats worse is the resentment and hatful feelings I have for my sister in law. I love my nieces but I have a hard time showing it. I think I'm getting better but I could always use a friend to talk to.

It seems to me that maybe his doctor isn't helping him if he is just uping his dosage. You could try to find a doctor that actually listens to your son. I mean, wouldn't it be better if your sons behavior was good and his grades were good at the same time? I think that is what you should strive for. If you are not getting it from his present doctor, find a new one.