What You Need to Know about Parenting Children Who Have Bipolar Disorder

Children with bipolar disorder are extremely influenced by their impulses and surroundings, which is especially challenging with the stresses of daily life. Parents need to take extra care in how they manage the behaviors of kids with bipolar. Here are some tips to help:

Keep a consistent schedule

Routines and structure help reduce stress and manage impulsivity. Ensure the child sticks to a routine with home activities, medication, and sleep. A schedule can also help parents be more cognizant of changes to patterns in behaviors and mood.

Be aware of warning signs

Prevention is always best, so if parents can recognize early signs, they can move quickly to help their child. Warning signs of an approaching manic episode may include intense outbursts, extreme irritability or silliness, high with reduced need for sleep, hypervigilance to a task, racing thoughts, or reckless behavior.

Give up your need to be in control

Bipolar disorder in teens causes an everyday struggle for control. They have issues regulating moods, sleep, and appetite. It’s better to give them a sense of control instead of insisting the teen does what you want when you want, explains Kristen McClure, MSW.

Don’t expect more maturity from your child

Children without bipolar go through normal developmental stages; each marked by new skills and more maturity. However, this process of normal development could be disrupted in kids with bipolar, says McClure. “If your child is 15, but has been unstable in their illness for three years, they will not have the skills of a ‘normal’ 15year-old.”

Pick your battles

Dealing with the behaviors of a child with bipolar is different than it is with other children. Everything the child does incorrectly doesn’t need to be addressed, so choose wisely in what to let go and what to enforce. Constant reprimanding of children with bipolar disorder can increase the stress and trigger more acting-out behaviors.

Consistency is key

Because kids with bipolar usually have a need for control, consistency helps them understand the rules and gives them a sense of empowerment. It’s normal for all children to test limits, and kids with bipolar disorder are no different here. For these kids, it’s even more important for parents to be consistent in discouraging or reinforcing certain behaviors and to stick to it.

Don’t hold grudges

Kids with bipolar need help in learning how to resolve conflict and solve problems. If you two do get into an argument, do not give the silent treatment afterward or hold grudges. Later, when things are calm, you can discuss what happened and what you both could have done differently.

Take suicidal comments seriously

Bipolar disorder in teens puts them at risk for suicide. Parents must communicate with their child’s therapist and psychiatrist about any signs of depression or concerns they have about their child. This should be consistently monitored.

Create opportunities for expression

Children with bipolar are often gifted and have exceptional creative abilities; build on these strengths and interests. Start by creating opportunities for them to express their own thoughts and feelings with a creative outlet.

Seek your own support

You may need to process your own feelings—of anger, of grief—about the mental health condition your child has. It’s not uncommon to also deal with your own depression or anxiety as well, often from the stress of the situation. Therapy can help parents of children with bipolar deal with resolving conflict, thereby modeling good problem-solving skills.

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