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indiansummer
Junior Member
 
Member Since Sep 2006
Posts: 10
18
Default Sep 05, 2006 at 11:22 PM
 
My 22 year old stepdaughter is spiraling out of control. She was "diagnosed" at about 7 years of age as being ADHD. While she certainly has an attention deficit and is hyperactive beyond description, a psychiatrist now suggests that she was never ADHD, but is bipoloar with "satellite issues." Because she is an adult, we have no information other than what she has told us about this new diagnosis. She will not take meds. She is violent and out of control. She lives in a constant state of motion, constantly looking for drama and even fights, is promiscuous, and has extreme grandiose ideas about herself. She can't keep a job, constantly getting fired or quits and runs when she realizes she's about to be fired. She runs with rough, dangerous people until they run her off, often times after roughing her up in order to get rid of her. When "weaker" personalities try to distance themselves from her, she roughs them up, either physically or psychologically. She steals and pawns friends' and family's possessions, make false police reports about breakins at her home. She has strange habits such as hiding underwear under her mattress, cutting up people's clothing, and keeping used tampons under her mattress and in bedroom and bathroom drawers and in piles of trash in her bedroom (sorry, but this is especially disturbing). Her bedsheets are often covered with bloody handprints. In general, while she does keep herself relatively clean, her living conditions are beyond nasty. When I married her dad a year and a half ago, she got on the roof of the house where we had the wedding reception - with no explanation other than she "was just messing with us." Her dad reports that when she was a child the the mothers of neighborhood children would come to him demanding that he keep her away from their children. She once beat a little girl in the face with a gold club. I've seen NO signs of depression as I know them. No loss of appetite, she's never quiet. She dresses in terribly suggestive, inappropriate clothing and seems very obsessed with piercing and tattooing herself. She is currently on the run from the police (minor theft) and has left the state with a 17 year old in tow (could be very serious legal problems). She is voilent, provoking and out of control most all of the time. Do these types of bevior really fit the mold for any type of bipolar disorder? I'm concerned that one visit with a psychiatrist (whose advice she ignores) was not enough to make a good diagnosis. We see no common signs of depression, but instead a constant, high energy, destructive mania. I'm new to this family and trying to learn how to deal with this. Any input would be appreciated.
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