Devastated

[Guest guest]

My precious son, 10 years old, always so cheerful and full of

potential, is headed down a scary, lonely road, and he's been robbed

of his childhood. We finally had the appointment with the good p-

doc. His diagnosis completely devastated us. exhibits

signs of both bipolar and the condition worse than that - I can't

even write it or say it without crying. Because of the early onset,

the p-doc says he'll have a severe form of the disease.

Even if he can't finish college or get a good job, I just want him to

be happy and independent, to have a wife and children. He is so good

with younger children and would make such a good father. He is an

only child and I'm scared for him to be all alone when he's older.

I'm sad that he'll have to take many strong medications and deal with

side effects for the rest of his life. I'm sad that he's headed for

unbearable suffering, possibly suicide. As awful as it sounds, I've

always felt that I couldn't blame people with that condition who kill

themselves, because I thought their life wasn't worth living. That

last statment makes me cry the most. He has always been self

conscious and just wanted to fit in. Through 2nd grade he was

extremely sociable at school and very well liked. But in the past 2

years he has lost touch with his friends at school. The kids on the

street that he desperately wants to play with have been really mean

to him. It crushes me to think that he's bound for loneliness and

riducule by the kids in the neighborhood.

There are 2 things that will keep him going for now. He's become

obsessed with skateboarding. He thinks about it 24/7. We've been

taking him once or twice a day to the skatepark, where he practices

and talks to other skaters. Over the past year or so he's begged and

pleaded to get a kitten. We've always said " no " because we have 2

old, arthritic, very sensitive cats, a long with a dog and a rabbit.

Now I can't care how a kitten will affect the older cats, needs

a loyal furry friend who can sleep on his bed and give him comfort.

He has obsessive qualities, but OCD isn't his biggest problem. I'll

have to find an online support group for parents of bipolar kids.

Tamara