ODD/ADD/ Anxiety or Bipolar?

by Carole Baron
(Canada)

My daughter Christina is 13. She has been diagnosed with oppositional defiance behavior, add and anxiety.

Over the last 2 months she is getting worse. She was in a therapeutic home since Jan. and came home in August. She is having eating binges, sleep disturbances, sleeping with all the lights on and horrible rages mostly surrounding going to school. She is refusing to go to school again. She often has stomach aches etc for reasons not to go to school. She was placed in a home due to not going to school and her anxiety around this. She was doing well in the home but since she has come home things are rapidly going downhill. She is seeing a psychiatrist on Feb 3 and I am counting the minutes.

The changes are eating, sleeping and the constant rages every day. Also, she will have sudden episodes of craziness like jumping on the bed and getting really silly like 3 year old and making noises. I feel with the onset of these additional symptoms, bipolar disorder needs to be a consideration in the help she is to receive. We are going to family counseling but she doesn't want to go and it is not helping. I feel like I am losing my mind. What do you think of this any help is appreciated.

It is certainly common for children with bipolar disorder to be misdiagnosed or dually diagnosed with add anxiety and oppositional defiant behavior. My advice to you is that you cannot give up on finding appropriate help for your child if she is not getting the help she needs. Continue to describe the symptoms as specifically as you can and to insist that they be addressed in some way by the professionals that are working with you. Family counseling is not working? Talk with your therapist about his/her perspective as to if and why you should continue.
Good Luck!
Sincerely,

Kristen McClure