How to tell if my daughter is bipolar

[197612]

My daughter is 10 years old.She is from my first marriage and was not raised by her father,she actually asked to meet him 2 years a go.She stated to her grandparents that if they wouldn't help her look for him she'd kill herself.Well,the day came they met and after a couple of months she decided she no longer wanted to see him.She has really bad mood swings,she'll wake up extremely happy,helpful and all of a sudden she'll be rude,angry and start fighting for no reason.She states she hates her younger sister (half sister),her step-dad and me.If she can not do something like tie her shoes she'll begin screaming,pulling her hair,throwing her shoe,etc.She has a low self-esteem I have noticed because she's always saying that she's not pretty,that no one loves her,etc.She says she thinks that i advise her sister to be mean to her.I took her twice to a counselor,but I did not see any type of evaluation given to her.How can I tell if she's bipolar and where i can obtain help.

[lindahand]

I would take her to see child psychiatrist or child psychologist. They are the ones that hold the knowledge as to what may be illness and what may be a serious problem but not psychiatric such as responding to not having a father in her life, being the step child and thinking of her sister as the one who is 'really' loved, and/or general self esteem issues.

If you take her to a child psychiatrist you are more likely to get a psychiatric answer to your question. If you take her to a child psychologist you are more likely to get a psychological diagnosis. If you have the funds it wouldn't hurt for her to be examined by both and see which one fits best or if they come to the same conclusions. They are usually really hesitant to assign psychiatric diagnosis to one so young.

[ILADVOCATE]

I would think that she should see a counselor on a regular basis. Family therapy would be helpful so you would be able to understand how to cope with all this. Its hard to say what's going on as bipolar is uncommon at that age but can occur. A child psychiatrist would be able to make a definitive diagnosis so that would be worthwhile but counseling is essential in addition.