Print Version
Email this story
Comment
For families, bipolar disorder can take a toll
 |
| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman As a child, Becky McNair’s daughter was precocious, but easily distracted. |
By JILL AHO
H&N Staff Writer
The medication Abilify calmed down Becky McNair’s daughter and she slept for four days. The girl was exhausted from an episode caused by bipolar disorder. The quiet was a welcome change. Her daughter, diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in kindergarten, was difficult to handle.
“There was a lot of things going on that looked like more than ADHD,” McNair said. “There were times when I was just done. I felt like I was living with a runaway train.”
The Klamath Falls mother was desperate for a solution.
People with bipolar disorder, or manic depression, experience shifts in mood, energy and functioning that range from subtle to extreme.
It is often a chronic illness that requires life-long treatment. McNair’s daughter experienced rapid-cycling, which is defined as having four or more episodes, or manic or depressive states, within a single year.
“She was afraid of noises and shadows and stuff like that, even as a teen,” McNair said. “Then she’d have days where she’d sneak out of the house at night to go bike riding.”
Diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents can be difficult, as children with the disorder are more likely to have fast mood swings, and are more likely to display symptoms of mania in an irritable and destructive manner, rather than being overly happy and elated.
Lack of attention
As a child McNair’s daughter was precocious, but easily distracted.
“I couldn’t keep her attention and she didn’t want to learn,” she said. And as a young adult, she could have no noise whatsoever while studying. “She had to have perfect silence.”
Desperate, McNair enrolled her 14-year-old daughter in the Southern Oregon Adolescent Program, a strict inpatient program for adolescent girls who are “out-of-parental-control,” according to wording on the Web site.
McNair’s guilt about putting her daughter in the program is apparent when she talks about the fear that the program put in her child.
“Even now … there’s some fear there,” McNair said. “I didn’t know anything about mental illness or brain disorders. I thought we could make her well.”
McNair’s first visit to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family class struck a resounding note.
“There were 25 people there that night and they all sounded like they lived in my house,” she said. They reassured McNair that her daughter’s illness wasn’t something she did, and it wasn’t something she could fix.
“I was shocked because since she was little, I was trying to fix her. It changed everything at home,” she said.
McNair’s daughter is now the mother of twins and no longer has bipolar episodes. She doesn’t take medication to manage her illness and has learned to take time for herself by asking for help.
“There was a lot of things going on that looked like more than ADHD,” McNair said. “There were times when I was just done. I felt like I was living with a runaway train.”
The Klamath Falls mother was desperate for a solution.
People with bipolar disorder, or manic depression, experience shifts in mood, energy and functioning that range from subtle to extreme.
It is often a chronic illness that requires life-long treatment. McNair’s daughter experienced rapid-cycling, which is defined as having four or more episodes, or manic or depressive states, within a single year.
“She was afraid of noises and shadows and stuff like that, even as a teen,” McNair said. “Then she’d have days where she’d sneak out of the house at night to go bike riding.”
Diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents can be difficult, as children with the disorder are more likely to have fast mood swings, and are more likely to display symptoms of mania in an irritable and destructive manner, rather than being overly happy and elated.
Lack of attention
As a child McNair’s daughter was precocious, but easily distracted.
“I couldn’t keep her attention and she didn’t want to learn,” she said. And as a young adult, she could have no noise whatsoever while studying. “She had to have perfect silence.”
Desperate, McNair enrolled her 14-year-old daughter in the Southern Oregon Adolescent Program, a strict inpatient program for adolescent girls who are “out-of-parental-control,” according to wording on the Web site.
McNair’s guilt about putting her daughter in the program is apparent when she talks about the fear that the program put in her child.
“Even now … there’s some fear there,” McNair said. “I didn’t know anything about mental illness or brain disorders. I thought we could make her well.”
McNair’s first visit to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family class struck a resounding note.
“There were 25 people there that night and they all sounded like they lived in my house,” she said. They reassured McNair that her daughter’s illness wasn’t something she did, and it wasn’t something she could fix.
“I was shocked because since she was little, I was trying to fix her. It changed everything at home,” she said.
McNair’s daughter is now the mother of twins and no longer has bipolar episodes. She doesn’t take medication to manage her illness and has learned to take time for herself by asking for help.
 |
||
| Stringing together a pastime has helped keep life interesting |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of HeraldAndNews.com. Comment Disclaimer: The editors of heraldandnews.com reserve the right to refuse publication of any comment posted for consideration. We may refuse for any reason, including use of profanity, disparaging comments, libelous comments, etc. Any reader who notices a comment they believe is particularly offensive, should notify us at webmaster@heraldandnews.com.
RSS
msubeav wrote on Nov 6, 2008 12:00 PM:
My father went thru Bi-Polar disorder at the age of 56..which is very very rare. He got very manic and spent money like we were a charity. BTW, Bi-polar people have a strong tendancy to spend money...that is always something to keep your eye on. Its not a normal type of spending. My dad bought 25 copies of dixie chicks CDs one time...a new car another time..and it eventually cost him a big chunk of his retirement savings. He's got it under control now by taking lithium and when he gets to a point when he has trouble sleeping or gets a little manic he takes Zyprexa which calmes him down. When he's manic..he will go on spurts of 4-7 days where he is sleeping 1-2 hours a night..and that can make a bad situatuion worse if they are not controlling it. "