Elizabeth's Bi-Polar Disorder Case Studies

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In the third grade Elizabeth struggles to socialize with her peers. She is still our happy active girl, however now that she is 9 yrs old she has had many outburst. We do not understand why Elizabeth is acting out in such an aggressive manner. Elizabeth was building with Eli and when he would not give her the pieces she wanted she threw a tantrum. Elizabeth reached for the blocks and began throwing them while saying hurtful words to her brother. Once we stepped in it took us about five hours to calm her down. The process was exhausting and we hoped never to experience it again. Nevertheless, Elizabeth continued to have her tantrums, which tired us to the point that we stopped going out. When we pick up Elizabeth from school she is usually by herself and when we ask her about her friends she has nothing to

say. Our concerns for Elizabeth’s social life has raised and we went to talk to her teacher. Her teacher said that due to Elizabeth's tantrums in school the other kids were scared and put off by her. Seeing our little girl be excluded was hurtful and we knew that there was something going on. We seeked for answers by talking to family, friends, and even her teacher but they all told us to give her a break because Elizabeth had a rough start. Yet, we knew that could not be the complete truth because her doctor ruled out post-traumatic stress. There is something wrong with Elizabeth but no one has been able to provide us any answers or help.
We knew that Elizabeth was struggling with something deep and she needed help.

Through some research and pursuing to find answers Elizabeth was finally diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder, which ran in her family. Elizabeth’s mom and grandmother were also diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder. As her parents we were sad to hear the news because our little girl was suffering and misunderstood for so long. Thus, we made it our mission to help her in every way possible. Even though, the thought of medicating our child was frightful we decided to see Elizabeth's reaction to taking lithium. Elizabeth responded will to the medication and it made a difference in her daily life. We started going to a parent information center and we found the courage to fight for Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s social life was still deteriorating and we were constantly at the school asking for helpful resources to be provided. We were practically at the school everyday fighting and wanting assistance, our struggle continued for three years. Elizabeth at the age of fifteen was still being denied resources such as a counselor because the school did not see her deteriorating behavior as an

issue.
Elizabeth has grown up to be a beautiful, hardworking, kind women. Life has had many struggles and obstacles for our Elizabeth. She has had a tough time managing school, relationships, work, and her disorder. We pushed Elizabeth to go to school and she decided to enroll in a community college, but she did not complete any programs. We were upset that she was unable to be certified and that she had to work minimum jobs. Elizabeth worked many minimum jobs but no job has been stable. We wish for her to return to school and try again. However, she has been fighting us and will not take her medication because she says it makes her feel weird. We know that without her medication Elizabeth struggles to function and we do not want the people she hangs around with take advantage of her. We try to help Elizabeth but she fights us every step of the way, which has led her to make many poor decisions. Elizabeth has poorly managed her finances and struggles to maintain a positive relationship. We wish that she would let us help her more, but now that she is thirty years old we are not sure of the power we have. We can not help but look back and hoped that Elizabeth could have recieved helpful resources earlier.