What if siblings show the same behaviors?
You may notice that a sibling is starting to manifest the same behaviors as your child with bipolar disorder. This can happen for two reasons: It could be a manifestation of the illness—bipolar disorder runs in families and a sibling of a child with bipolar disorder will have a greater chance of having the illness than the average person. Or, the sibling may have started to mimic behaviors of your child with bipolar disorder.
If the symptoms that you are seeing are severe let a psychiatrist decide if it is mimicking or a presentation of the illness. If they are milder behaviors, talk to your child and reinforce behavior that is acceptable. Also make clear what the consequences of difficult behaviors will be. If your child is able to modify behavior with typical parenting intervention then it is not likely a manifestation of the illness. However, if these problems persist, then you will want to take the sibling for an evaluation. Even if the sibling doesn’t have bipolar disorder, he may need therapy to work through sibling issues.
Some parents find it exceedingly difficult to get help when a second child has an onset of the illness. Many parents hold onto the idea that having at least one “well” child proves that their parenting is not at fault. But, seeking help for a second child is not a failure anymore than it was for the first child. This is not about how you as a parent can feel justified. It’s about making sure that all children in your family are appropriately cared for.
Excerpt from The Childhood Bipolar Disorder Answer Book published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Copyright 2008 by Tracy Anglada and Sheryl Hakala All Rights Reserved