Just answered this great question from reader and advocate Judy Fryer on my live chat with Martin Baker and Fran Houston for the launch of their new book High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder. (I often do live question and answer sessions on my Julie A. Fast Facebook account.)
Julie, In the UK, the drs are very reluctant to diagnose children with a mental illness. It is very difficult to discern if a child is displaying signs of mental illness or being ‘naughty’. The danger is, we put their ‘ bad’ behaviour down to puberty and we miss the signs. Any pointers as what to look out for?”
Hello Judy!
The first step is to examine the family history and see if the child has symptoms that were seen in other family members. For example, bipolar disorder is a genetic illness. If you have a young child who is depressed at age 10, ask around and see if this happened to a relative. It may be the first time this topic has even been addressed, but it’s essential it comes out sooner than later. Here is a scrip you can use. “Our sweet boy Marcus is having some down thoughts about himself and why he can’t make friends. We have noticed that he is spending more time alone in his room and that he cries when we try to ask him a question. It’s so important that we get him help now. We are asking family members if they or anyone they know of in the family has had a similar experience. If this is the case, we can let doctors know there is a genetic predisposition to depression in the family and we can get Marcus the help he needs.” This can be done by email. All it takes it ONE PERSON being honest for a whole family history to come out!
