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Re: People who had bipolar disorder

Abraham Lincoln was thought to have had bipolar disorder. He certainly experienced some lengthy depressions, and others described him as excessively energetic at times, too.

And my favorite prose writer, Winston Churchill, had bipolar disorder. He would call his depression 'Black Dog.' He had periods of mania that would last for days (no sleep), and was known to keep everyone else up at all hours when he was in a work frenzy. Sadly at least two of his children inherited his brain disorder, as well as alcoholism, and they led troubled lives. Winny was depressed for many years at the end of his life. Today we are more fortunate because we have at least better treatment, and with all the new brain imaging techniqiues and research, it can only get better.

It was also said that Hemmingway was manic depressive, as was Edgar Allan Poe.

The list can go on, some people are probably not the "best" role models for kids (my daughter informed me this morning that Eminem is bipolar).

On another note....VICTORY!!! The house voted to ban schools from prohibiting children that had behavioral problems from being at school without medication!!!!! That is awesome.

With my daughter, unfortunately, to medicate or not is not an option....we tried for years to do the "not". However, there are so many kids that really don't need to be medicated, they just need extra help, love and attention. So in that case, it should be the parent(s) making the decision to medicate or not...not the school forcing it!!!!

Today we are more fortunate because we have at least better treatment, and with all the new brain imaging techniqiues and research, it can only get better.

And as much as I hate the attitidue of educators sometimes (because they can be so liberal)....the schools are doing now more than ever for the severely at risk children. They have schools now that are "more intense". They are public schools with smaller class size, more structure, and some therapy mixed in. In many of these schools, these children are not allowed to leave until their classwork is complete, even if that means 7pm. It helps reinforce what the parents are trying to do at home and it ensures these kids will learn and not be left behind and be "ignorant". It also helps keep down the drop out rate and prevents them from becoming society's problem later on.

I would just say that if you are going to utilize one of these special schools, investigate it, it's acheivements, the ratio of kids that improved and were reintroduced to mainstream schools, graduation ratios, the philosiphy of the educators, and then STAY INVOLVED through the whole process...don't use it as a babysitting service and a way to not have to deal with the problem. If used in conjuction with GOOD PARENTING it can be a wonderful tool.