Welcome to Max's World

[michaela harrington]

For children that suffer from bipolar disorder it can be even worse
than adults. Their brains are still developing and the drugs they take
to help reduce symptoms can cause problems with developmental growth.
However, if the disorder goes untreated the outcome could be much
worse: suicide. Ten percent of children that suffer from bipolar
disorder end up committing suicide. The problem is it is unknown what
causes bipolar disorder and it is unknown what effect the drugs have
on the brain.
Max was only 7 when he made his first suicide attempt. He did not
understand the concept of death completely but he did know he was
unhappy. When Max was 10 he wrote a note saying he wanted help and
wanted to be happy again. Bipolar disorder was making him depressed,
and not able to sleep at night. Over the years Max became sick of
feeling sad and restless.
Amy and Richie had no idea what bipolar disorder was when their son
was diagnosed as a toddler. They hoped it was something curable and
something they have heard of. They didn't want to keep their child on
a strong medication. Especially when it was relatively new to diagnose
children with this disorder. Usually children were diagnosed as
hyperactive or depressed. They didn't think that they could switch
from these highs to lows. Now more kids are being misdiagnosed as
having bipolar disorder when they have another type of disorder. It is
thought that 9 out of 10 children as misdiagnosed.
What scientist know about bipolar disorder in children is they have
too much activity in the amygdala which causes them to be overly
aggressive and they don't have enough activity in the prefrontal
cortex which is what gives us rational thought. As a result children
experience extreme emotions and aren't able to process anything else.
This leads to the aggressive behavior like biting and hitting that Max
was expressing.
When Max attended public school he was impossible to control and the
staff wasn't trained in handling children with these severe disorders.
The Peabody public school system tried to keep him in. If they didn't
they'd have to pay for his private education. I think that it's good
for the families of these children because they spend so much money on
medications and therapy treatments. This way the child can get the
care he or she needs without the parents having to pay another
expense. Although it is not ideal for the town and taxpayers, I think
it is necessary that children get the proper care they need.
As Max grew up the number of drugs grew too. He was on so many it was
hard to tell if was helping him or not. When Max got older he was
diagnosed with more and more disorders. All the drugs along with his
disorder made him an emotional wreck. He couldn't do things that other
kids could like attend birthday parties. No one understood the
situation and the stress their family was going through. It put a
strain on their marriage, which is common in families with kids with
disorders. The parents become stressed and take it out on each other
or they disagree on how to take care of the child. Soon they found an
outlet for Max's aggression, karate. This is an appropriate place for
Max to take his aggression out. This is a type of treatment that can
be very beneficial. It is still a life long struggle and more needs to
be discovered about bipolar disorder in order for it to be treated and
diagnosed properly. There is a lot we have to learn about the brain
and how it works. It's even harder in children because they are still
developing. But it is important to try and treat the disorder.