Teenagers have the same symptoms as adults with bipolar disorder, but how they see the illness is quite different. This is especially true when it comes to WORRY.
The worries of a teen are different than adult worries and this must be reflected in how we help teens manage this illness.
Teenagers care about….what others think, their short term future, friends, who said what to whom, dating, studying, being popular, electronic devices, music, school and the pressures of substance use. (Just to name a very few!)
These are very different than the adult worries of supporting themselves, supporting others, divorce, retirement, work, raising children, making money, changing the world and mortgages. It’s easy to compare these lists and discount teen worries as superficial- but they are never superficial to the teens themselves.
Teens also live in a world where nothing is private. They can easily make huge mistakes on social media when they are in a mood swing. They communicate through text sound bites, worry about what others will think far more than adults do and often have to deal with too many pressures to succeed in our fast paced world.
When you talk with a teen about bipolar disorder, think of what it means to them to have the illness, not what it would mean to an adult.
Julie
Hi.
My name is Taryn, I’m fourteen and really confused. I think I might be bipolar, but I’m not sure and I don’t have anyone to talk to. My mom is depressed and has an anxiety disorder, and she has to take medication. She hates that. One night she was furious with me and she screamed, “I’ll take you to doctor and they’ll give you drugs and it won’t change anything!” Then, she was talking about me being depressed. That, however, was two months ago, and nothing has happened. Both of my parents notice my terrible mood swings, my irritably, insomnia and random bursts of crying and yet they do nothing. They claim that they will find someone for me, or sign me up with our local therapist Brenda, but that never happens.
I just want another opinion, from somebody that actually matters, so that I might have the courage to ask my parents for help. So here are my symptoms…
I’m not sure if I have mixed bipolar or not. I am often in a very depressed mood, feeling blue and not really wanting to do anything. I am very forgetful and have a lack of strive. This is most days out of the week. There are some days that I feel alright, I might even get excited. But this is rare.
Sometimes, though, I get inexplicably happy or excited and just plain euphoric. One day when I felt this way, I decided to make a book club. And I did. It meets every Wednesday after school for an hour with my two best friends and six other people. However it feels like a burden now. I have to hull pillows and blankets and bean bag chairs to my best friend’s house where we meet and rent the books every month. That gay feeling only lasted one day and then it rapidly flew away.
And then a month ago it happend again. The day was sunny and nice I felt strangely happy. I remember thinking, “Wow. I forgot what happy felt like.” It was so amazing… I don’t even no how to describe it. It was a Thursday, and I hadn’t gone to school feeling like that. It happened in our last class. I got home and practiced all my dances for our dance classes the next day, cooked, did all my homework for the next week in record time and then decided to cool it down by watching some Heartland and Pretty Little Liars. I freaked out and fangirled harder than I had ever before, and I was just so happy. That day, I was even happy enough to begin writing in my journal. Normally, I just don’t have the energy (unless I get into one of my really depressed moods. You should see the stuff pouring out of me on those days) and that day I did.
But then my mom, my brother and my nana got back from his hockey game and my came crashing down. Fast. It gave me whiplash. They came through the door, my mother and my grandmother both eating chips while my brother was chewing gum. That didn’t even bother me at first (I’m pretty sure I have misophonia too. My symptoms lead up all the way to level nine. And no, I’m not a hypochondriac). It was like somebody flicked a light switch off inside of me. Or on, if you think about it that way. I got angry, and then irritated, and then extremely confused. That was when I had noticed they were chewing. I ran to my bedroom, stopped writing in my journal mid-sentance and began to cry. I cried for an hour. I haven’t gotten one of those happy days since.
Except, when I was happy that day, after doing all that stuff and before watching TV, I had an hour long nap because I was sleepy. This is what confuses me.
Anyway, thank you to anyone who actually reads this and sorry it is so long and full of grammatical and spelling errors. I swear to God that I have an A+ in every single subject. I just feel the need to write this but am too lazy to edit it. Sorry again. (Yes, I ma in fact Canadian 😉 ) But please help.
Taryn xx.
Hi Taryn,
Thank you for reaching out! I will answer you privately. Julie
Hi! And thank you so much for bothering to respond to me. I’m curious to your answer though and am wondering how I will receive this answer privately. Anyway, thank you thank you thank you!
Hello Taryn,
I am answering your question this evening. I’m not able to answer all of the questions I receive, but I always want to reply to teenagers as you are the ones who are going to change the world! Julie