Bill and Nancy
What are Ally's
symptoms?
Overall, she is very irritable. One minute she is very depressed and
in the next has a lot of energy, pressured speech, and may laugh
inappropriately. She has difficulty sleeping, fixates on thoughts and
obsesses about them, constantly worries about social problems she
encounters, and has a very difficult time getting up in the morning.
She can be very verbally abusive to others, easily frustrated, and
destroy things. She cries frequently, often for a long time and cannot
be consoled. She can have one to ten temper tantrums per day, often
unprovoked. She has low self-esteem and feels that she is fat and that
none of her friends like her.
What challenges have you
run into?
We had tremendous difficulty with her schools and teachers. In the
third grade, Ally was having difficulty with her homework, separation
anxiety, and social issues. Because she was holding it together at
school, the school not only refused to make modifications for her, but
also did not believe her diagnosis was real. They blamed us for her
behavioral issues and said that if we could provide more structure, get
her to bed earlier that she would be better. Although the teachers
admitted that they did not know much about bipolar disorder, they
refused our offers to attend conferences, even at our cost. We had to
go through an expensive school hearing, which we eventually won. The
school, however, still refused to develop special modifications for
her. Then, when her medications were not working and we had stop them
to begin a new drug trial, they finally saw how Ally behaved without
treatment. We ended up pulling Ally out of public school and sent her
to a parochial school. They gave her special tutoring and tools to help
her with her motor coordination.
What does Ally receive for
medical treatment?
In the beginning, we were hoping for a cure. We thought that there
would be a magic pill that Ally would take for the rest of her life. We
thought it would be something like insulin, and basically she would
resume a normal life. Unfortunately, medications come with side
effects, even though the moods may be controlled very well, there are
problems, like weight gain, acne, and movement disorders. These side
effects have greatly impacted her self esteem. She gained 40 pounds in
three months on one of her medications. In addition, she has to have
multiple blood and heart tests.
The medications have helped Ally sleep better, calm her moods, decrease
her anxiety and obsessive thinking and overall, become happier and more
energetic. The medications also help her in therapy sessions because
she has more insight into her behavior and how to handle her symptoms.
For Ally, cognitive behavioral therapy helps her identify triggers that
make her out of control and strategies for calming down and getting in
control. She has been in social skills programs with other kids with
bipolar disorder and that has helped her to learn more about reading
social cues and how her behavior impacts others.
