We just found out that our son has an emotional disorder. is there medicine for this?
93699
I am 22 years old, I had a behavior problem since I was very young.  I went to all kinds of counseling, but none of it worked and as I got older I started getting in trouble with the law, I've been to jail several times and been convicted of many felonies that will follow me for the rest of my life and I dropped out of school to sell drugs.  I was always depressed and attempted suicide three times and overdosed once and actually died and was revived four times.  I was put on a medicine called klonipin for my depression and methadone for my drug dependence.  Now I have got my life together, I'm back in school and I am engaged, and I feel like a normal person for the first time in my life.  Both my parents wished they would have realized this was a chemical imbalance in my brain and counseling was not the answer for me, they both see me know how happy I am and that I act normal and am no longer depressed and a drug addict.  They wish they would have put me on medication when I was younger so I wouldn't have nearly ruined my life.  But medication isn't for everyone, you should try therapy first and if he shows no signs of improvement, do him a favor and get him on a suitable medication to control his disorder.  I wish my parents would have done that and I wouldn't have two felonies on my record, been to jail six times, been on probation six years of my life and still have four to go, and done so many drugs I can't be normal without medication now.  Please listen to my advice, I don't want your son to go through want I've been through.
627336
Besides medication, what else are you doing for treatment?  You should talk to someone about your feelings.  Not necessarily a professional, but at least someone you trust.  If that isn't helping, then maybe consider professional therapy.  This is VERY common, and often goes untreated.  You've recognized a problem, now just keep working at it.  You probably won't be on meds forever.  Don't focus on the fact that you're taking pills, focus on relieving your PPD.  You daughter will thank you later!
254493
Sadly there is no "CURE"\n\n   The disorder isn't a disease.\n\n   There are advances in the technology available to increase his comfort, education, mobility, and in general his quality of life.\n\n   He will always be confined to many aspects of his condition, but depending on its severity, he can enjoy life, within a range that is comfortable for him.\n\n   I will keep him and your family in my prayers.\n\n   Love him as if nothing is wrong.\n\nRev. Steven
377989
My son was diagnosed with clinical depression. He was confused emotionally and became very demanding. He wanted all my time and attention and he wanted me to buy him every thing he wanted or give him money all the time (A whole lot worse than normal). If I refused, he would scream abuse at me and break things in the house. The more I refused the more violent he became. In the end I had to ignore him, in order for his violence to stop, but it could take a while.
320213
You are obviously looking for the best advice possible, so please if you can do anything to rectify this situation then do it and as soon as possible. I am so proud of you even though I dont know you, for recognising that this man is in difficulty, please go to someone who can help him, go to his or indeed your Dr. and seek immediate advice. This is wrong, you know it I know it and I am sure every other user of this site will see it for what it is.  It is abuse of the worst kind.  I have a son with special needs, and this is my worst nightmare. I applaud your concern, now please get help for him....
503967
You can talk to him calmly about the ways medication would help.But,don't yell or criticize.I don't think that would help.Good luck.
573643
My son, who is age 16, didn't go as far as your friend did. He just recently got out of a special hospital here that deals with this type of situation. I honestly know how you feel, but mine goes deeper because it was my son. His depression started when he lost his best friend to suicide, and I've been helping him try to cope with this, it happened in March. Then, the next thing I knew, we went for a regular checkup at the doctor's office. And then I heard him say he tried to cut his hand off when he was at his dad's house, but a neighbor stopped him. That's when the doctor put him in the hospital. Now, he is on medication to deal with his depression. We both get counseling together with a therapist and separately we see different psychiatrists to help us both cope with everything. You don't say exactly how you caused him to flip out and get depressed again. But, I have learned that I wasn't the blame for my sons actions. I felt that it was my fault, that I had said the wrong thing to make him upset. He was depressed from not only his best friend committing suicide, he was getting pressure to do things from friends his age, alot of things was building up inside his mind that he couldn't cope with the world around him. Your friend may have already had problems built up inside that whatever you said may have just triggered past emotions. Not what you had said in that moment of time. You mentioned that everyone cuts ourselves, I'm sure that you meant that when we peel potatoes or apples, that sometimes we may cut our finger by accident. We don't purposely do it. The best advice I can give you is to stand by your friend because he needs all the support you can give him. I'm sure the doctors will give him medication to help his depression. It may take time for the meds to work, but you seem to like your friend very much. Even if you can go to a support group, which several places have free support groups to help cope with your friends depression and it may help you understand that it isn't your fault. Good Luck and if you need to talk to someone, you can get to my email by clicking my name. The email address is hidden.
1153161
I would have him evaluated by a pediatric specialty team at your nearest children's hospital or rehab center. My daughter was dx'd with ADD/ADHD/PDD-NOS and then High-functioning Autism by her ped and later by state funded physical and occupational therapists through early intervention. She was medicated at the school's insistence for ADHD. When that made things worse instead of better, we had her evaluated at our local pediatric rehabilitation center and learned that she was actually a perfect match for the symptoms/actions of Aspergers Syndrome and early onset bi-polar disorder. The reason the meds made things worse was that with bi-polar, you can't give just the anti-depressant, you have to do a mood stabilizer as well, or the manic symptoms will intensify and often times go out of control. Hope you find the help you need to help your child
418980
it is not just your son who needs to be seen through this\ncrisis, the whole family suffers .I have experience with my boy and adhd.\n\nin one way as he is only 14yrs old you still are in time to seek help\n\ni received so much support from a website  the link is below that i would recommend this to anyone in your circumstances.\nThere is a Dr who gives free medical advice, and loads of people to offer you the advice and support ,that you so clearly need.
18042
I would use behavioral therapy.  Basically you learn how to teach your child how to not have separation anxiety.
1055654
That's gotta suck for you - and for him, too, probably.\n\nMedication compliance is not an uncommon problem for bipolars.  You've probably already heard lurid tales of what happens when bipolars go "off the meds."\n\nMy first question back to you is, does your son understand the diagnosis, or does he believe it's all a bunch of mind-control hokum, designed to get him Under the Thumb?  (Paranoia is not an uncommon aspect to just about any mental health issue.)\n\nIf he does understand the diagnosis, you might consider a family contract (see link below to an example.)  The only problem I have with the example contract is the first line, assuming that a bipolar person in the midst of an episode could even begin to "stay calm."  That's just unrealistic.\n\nThe benefit of the contract, though, is that if he agrees to it during a lucid moment, where he sees that his disorder really can threaten his own life and the lives of those he loves, it empowers you - completely - to do what you have to do to protect yourself in the event he's not stable (i.e., not taking his meds or they're not working anymore.)\n\nThere are tons of example contracts out there on the web.\n\nAlso, have you tried family counseling?  As a family, it's critical to determine what your coping mechanisms are/will be for instances of instability or dangerous behavior.\n\nGood luck to you, and to him.\n\nOh and before I forget, there's a great book he might want to read, it's called "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Jamison - it's a memoir of a woman with bipolar disorder, only she's a psychiatrist so she has a special perspective.  Very well-written.  If you kid likes books at all he might dig this one.  Or not.  Hard to tell.\n\n****************\n\nWell, darn it, I thought about this as I was taking my own meds last night and I wonder if maybe the Klonopin makes him feel kind of dumbed-out.  If he likes his sharp manic side (and you said he was pretty smart, or at least got good grades,) feeling dull and doped out might be causing some of his noncompliance issues.  There are lots of meds out there that can be used for bipolar disorder.
345359
I have heard that herbs, vitamins work but don't know for sure.  I would suggest at looking at a product called Serenity.  I have known some people to take this and they have said that even their doctors told them it would be ok.  Bipolar is a serious disease and anything you can do to help your child be at a more normal lifestyle, please do it.  I have relatives who have it and in fact some have taken their own lives.  Please know that thi is a disease, but can be treated.
342158
My son has it.  Talk to a psychologist (a doctor, who can prescribe medication).  Be sure to get it officially diagnosed and treated.  It may always be an issue for you but it can be positively treated.
1014886
Each child is different and will have different needs, but I would recommend trying several things. \n\nFirst, you might consider looking into why he is engaging in the behaviors you mentioned. Make clear and objective descriptions of the behaviors that are concerning you. Then, make some notes whenever the behavior occurs. You could make a chart with three columns: (A) What happens before the behavior, (B) What the behavior was, and (C) What happened after or as a result of the behavior. \n\nYou may find that it gets him attention from adults, or that it gets him a time-out (maybe he is overwhelmed in the situation and wants to be removed). If you see a pattern from the information you collect, you could teach him other ways to get attention or whatever he is gaining from doing these behaviors. These could include, tapping someone on the shoulder, asking for attention, handing someone a card that says, "attention please" or "all done" (to get permission to leave an area), etc. Also, make sure that you are giving him praise or a reinforcer (something he likes) when he is engaging in positive behavior. \n\nTo find out more about this technique, I would suggest speaking to your school district's autism specialist, if they have one, or special education teachers (if your son is in school). It is called "functional analysis." This is an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) technique. You may want to seek the advice of an ABA professional that can get to know your son and his needs. However, I would give one word of caution about this. Make sure that your ABA person also has a background in special education and child development, because many don't. This is very important.\n\nBest of luck and I hope this helps you!
404257
Take some prescribe medication and combine that with real good psychologist.  One who would be able to help you working through your emotional problems if you have any.  The important thing is you have to really want to be cure.  If you want to really be cure you will make the effort to work through all emotions.
1002633
I have had a similar problem because my husband died when my son was 10 years old--maybe it was even worse, because my son wanted to be the "man" in the house.\n\nFirst and foremost, if your son is on some kind of drug, then punishment will not work at all--you will have to take more drastic steps.  Before you take any steps, sit down with your son and talk to him---not about drugs/alcohol, but ask him what exactly is bothering him so much that he feels the need to fit in with the crowd.  Maybe that will lead to a more in depth discussion on why he chose to do drugs.  Because, as you can imagine, once he realizes his own problem, there is a chance to fix it.  Just keep in mind that he is a teenager, they will not listen to our preaching, they do feel invincible, they feel they are in control---"it can't happen to me" kind of thing.\n\nIf you can get your son to talk about what is bothering him, the next step would be to involve his father, because it is important to decide togherther on what to do next and how to go about the rest.\n\nSince I did not have a husband any longer I decided to find a parenting support group.  That's where I got a lot of help and that might help you too.  Bringing my problems to this group helped me inasmuch that I was able to change the way I approached my teen, and it also helped me find solutions.\nI enrolled my son in a counseling program and with the help of the counselor decided that it was best to have my son admitted to a hospital for children who resorted to alcohol and drugs.  My son was able to communicate with other children about his problems, got good counseling there, and made the decision that drugs were not for him.  He was uptset that I put him there, but I dealt with that, because the most important thing to me was that my son got all the help necessary out there and it was worth every penny spent, because he is totally away from drugs, was able to join the military, is married now. So when considering your options consider that IF he is on drugs, he will not be able to get out of that alone.\n\nIf he is not seriously on drugs---a drugtest will reveal that(and depending on your insurance it might even be paid for by them), then I really would suggest that you look for a parenting support group to get support and good ideas on how to deal with your teenage son.  I went to a group called Parents Anonymus, I have no idea if they still exist---if they don't, then you might consider starting a group of your own.  The support is important.  Teenage boys in particular are too often thinking that they are a man and do not need our guidance and advice.  Whatever you do, consider that punishment might only be temporarily.  \n\nAnother thing I did was enroll my son in karate---he told me years later that this really helped him to let off a lot of steam.  Teenagers want to have some sort of control, they don't have it because they are still under our care, so they do get very angry when we decide that something is not good for them, and then they do that very same thing, just to defy us.\n\nLastly, I did hear a report on the news not so very long ago that the reaction of teenagers is also hormone related.  Once they are in puberty, there is a constant up and down because their hormone input is not regulated by the brain yet.\n\nI do not know if this helped you, but I sure hope so and wish you the best of luck.
1176650
Take him to a doctor or therapist, they should be able to help you :) Good luck!!