Papolos, co-author of the Bipolar Child studied 300 bipolar kids ages 4 to 18 and was able to establish a characteristic pattern. Our kids in the morning are really difficult to rouse in the morning. But once, they have risen up, most of them can fend for themselves. They usually brush their teeth alone and occassionally needs assistance with dressing up and taking a bath. With bipolar children, they are difficult to rouse from sleep. They resist getting up, getting dressed and even heading to school. They are either irritable with a tendency to snap and gripe, or sullen and withdrawn.

By midday, the darkness lifts and the child becomes wild, wired, euphoric in a giddy and strained way. They laugh too loudly when they find something funny and go on long after the joke is over. Their type of play has an aggressive quality to it. It is quite normal for children to pretend they are superheroes but to insist that they have superhuman abilities is entirely a different thing. They resist all efforts to pacify them when they throw tantrums whenever their wants are denied. Such wildness often continues deep into the night, which explains their difficulty of waking up in the morning. Quite difficult to believe but these children’s manifestations are like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The next question a concerned parent may have will be, how did my child/son/ daughter developed it? Most scientists says it is genetically connected but there are other factos that sets of the bipolar fuse.  One of the biggest contributing factor is drugs. Drugs connected with this disorder are amphetamines, coccaines and stimulants. Let us not discount the ever present Stress. Many of the psychiatric conditions are precipitated by life’s conditions such as divorce, death or even a happy rite of passage such as entering college.

Though some of us may not be genetically predisposed to this disorder, there are certain things we do t as parents, that we could be likely contributors to our child development of this disorder. Did you ever impose something to your child and yet you yourself broke it? One of the classic example is having your child sleep in the afternoon. But as a parent, you’re too concerned that he might develop diaper rash and go on change his diaper thereby disrupting his sleep. Families that do a lot of travel should take time to consider the implications of time zone differences to their children. This disrupts sleeping pattern which is the usual cause of sleep deprivation.

Clearly, there is something in the environment that contributes to a child as well as a growing teenager’s possibility of developing bipolar disorder, not just genes. Raise a child in a steady and stable home and reduce the odds that illness will gain a toehold. Another strategy is to avoid too much negatively expressed emotion. “Tough love is a good idea in principle but it sometimes do more than good especially if it make kids feel worse about themselves,” says Psychology Professor David Miklowitz of the University of Colorado. When family arguments cannot be avoided, they need to be conducted in a controlled way. Most importantly, we must be the eyes and ears of our children. A teenager in depression cannot see the hope beyond the gloom. A child can’t see the quiet reality behind the giddiness. We must be sensitive enough to our kids’ unspoken needs. Our children can be taught how to seek our help, much like Oddyseus in Homer’s Oddyssey. When blown off course, he sought the help of his crew. As parents, our compasses are much more reliable and we must be ready to show our children the way.

Photo by fyunkie

Do you know how to stimulate your child's brain for development?

Children’s minds are synonymous to sponges. They absorb everything around. Be it a good information or a junk, their brain is non-selective. Because the early formative years in the life of children affect their later choices in life, parents should nourish them well during their formative years. Several developmental researches prove that nature and nurture are the two predictors in determining the learning of patterns of children. Although the nature provides the innate and uncontrollable factor, parents can modify the expression of the genes through proper nurturing. Here are the ways to maximize the development of the brain.

Provide a Loving Environment

If you want to maximize the brain development of your children, nurture them with love and care. If you need to discipline their actions, talk to them and explain the misbehavior. Never resort to spanking. In a study conducted at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, researchers found out that spanking leads to aggressive behavioral problems and lower scores on mental development. Parents who choose physical punishments are most likely the stressed, single, depressed or uneducated individuals. Instead of piling up abusive behavior with your children, create a loving environment and aim to build happy memories for them to recall when they grow up.

Play with them

Play is the children’s way of learning. Creative play and ordinary play are two different things. To stimulate your child’s brain development, choose the creative play. This kind of interaction provides room for kids to development their artistic nature and allows their imagination to work. Previously, parents overwhelmed their children with books with the belief that only school can provide the education they need. However, nowadays, researches prove how the life outside the four corners of the classroom can affect the abilities of people. Instead of the traditional experiences, provide innovative and enjoyable ways to stimulate their mind to work.

Read

You do not have to wait until your children reach the pre-school age to read to them. No child is too young for reading. You can start the habit even with infants by showing colorful and simple pictures. You can progress with the difficulty of the subjects as the child grows older. By providing room for reading, you can expect better growth and development of their brains when they are ready for the formal education.

Protection from Secondary Smoke

A study in Environmental Health Perspective authored by Kimberly Yolton showed that children exposed on household with smokers have reduced IQ points by as much as two to five. The exposed kids displayed lower scores on math, reading and visual spatial skills than children with no exposure. The result of the study is just one of in the long list why parents should keep their children from second hand smoke.

The first few years of life are the formative years for learning. By providing your children ways to nurture their intelligence, you can raise a genius in your family. Keep in mind that your actions today will bear their impact on your children ten or twenty years from now.

Photo by Photo8.com/ Sam Photo8.com