Posted by AuntieMel on August 25, 2005, at 12:15:58
In reply to 17 year old daughter w/bipolar, posted by mlb on August 19, 2005, at 7:03:08
Don't dispair!
My daughter was the same, except for stealing. She wasn't flunking, but her grades were nowhere near what they could be if she'd put in just a wee bit of effort.
I was convinced she was bipolar, but her doctor said she was only depressive. But what a temper! Respect? Forget it.
In my case part of her anger was towards me, for being sick myself and for self medicating with booze. When I gave that up and started working on trying to get better we did do some family counseling, which enabled her to get out some of that anger in a controlled environment.
Not that I'm implying the same reasons apply in your case, I'm agreeing with Dinah that family counseling might be good. It'll help work on the dynamics in play and give you some tools to handle her better.
And - also trust your instincts. My daughter's therapist told her she was too immature to go off to college. My husband and I both thought that going off to college was *exactly* what she needed to do.
The first year was a bit rough. She got roughly the same grades she got in high school, but had to work harder to get them. But we were proud of her for doing the year - her roomie flunked out pretty quick.
By the end of her second year she'd pulled her GPA up above 3.0, and she starts her third year next week.
And, even better, we've gotten really close.
So - don't give up hope.
poster:AuntieMel
thread:543805
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/child/20050817/msgs/546527.html