What would you do if your 10-year-old daughter said to you,
“I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want to be me. I don’t want to feel anymore.
Why aren’t you doing anything about this?” Or if your normally loving son
threatened to slit you open with a knife? Naturally, you would want to do
anything in your power to make your children better, but what if that meant
giving your six-year-old lithium? Or sending your 10-year-old away to a
therapeutic residential school?
In deference to the many parents who face these challenges
day after day, I highly recommend Jennifer Egan’s piece on bipolar disorder in
children. She traces several families’ struggles to cope with children who rage
against the world from the time that they can talk, and offers a comprehensive portrait of the uncertainties surrounding bipolar diagnoses in kids.
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