Only a doctor can tell you if your son has Bi polar or not.

You need to share your thoughts with a doctor.

All the best to you and your son.

Always
Muthoni (Mson)

Muthoni,

Your response is not what I was looking for since this is the obvious. I think you over looked the concern. I was asking for advice on HOW to convince him to seek help. Please reread my letter.

kchel

Acknowledged

Hi. I have 2 sons that have bipolar disorder. The older of the 2 has suffered with night terrors since he was about 3 years old. With medication they have subsided.

How do you convince an adult child to get help? You could present him with the symptoms of the disorder. Have a candid conversation with him concerning his own behaviors and those of bipolar disorder. Perhaps this would open the conversation to getting evaluated by a psychiatrist. You could try to present it as needing to rule out the possibility of bipolar disorder as a diagnosis.

www.nami.org is a website for information on mental illness . Perhaps you could find a local practitioner that you could consult about how to approach an adult child you suspect has mental illness.

This is a difficult subject to discuss due to the public perception of mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. I wish I had more to offer you. I have been in a similar spot with my brother. I am still working on getting him to find some help. You are correct in your conclusion that things will only spiral downward with no treatment. It is heartbreaking to watch someone with so much potential unable to achieve measurable success due to instability secondary to an untreated mental disorder. Knowledge is power so educate yourself and approach the subject armed with knowledge, love and concern. I hope you are able to convince him to at least look into this and get evaluated. All the best.

My son is almost 20 next month and he is my middle of three boys. I've always compared him to his older brother and over the years he has been my fun, social boy with an awesome personality. But when I see him get upset so easily for little reason it really bothers me.
Thanks for your advice, I will do more research and continue to pay attention to his moods and pick the best time to talk to him. It is hard since he has dealt with ADD all his life and has been through a lot of emotions due to school being difficult.
Thanks again!
kchel

Kchel,

You are most welcome. If you need anything else we are here.