Researchers at Bradley Hospital are getting inside the minds of children with bipolar disorder -- children with high highs and low lows -- to figure out how to get to the root of the problem.
Twelve-year-old Hunter Ferris practically lives at Bradley Hospital in East Providence. This is where he goes to school and where he receives his treatment.
"The family came to me in research because bipolar disorder is not the easiest thing to diagnose. It overlaps with a number of different disorders, including anxiety problems, ADHD and regular old depression," Dr. Dan Dickstein said. "And through the research experience we really clarified the diagnosis."
Hunter's diagnosis was no surprise to his mother: bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
"It got bad," Karen Ferris said. "Hitting us, you know, going after his sister. I couldn't even leave the room that they were both in, afraid that he was going to hurt his sister."
"I used to run away from my family when I got mad. I used to, like, break the door and all that stuff. And I used to like threaten my parents," Hunter said.
That was before taking part in Dickstein's research study that included brain imaging and special "retrain the brain" computer games.
"By retrain the brain, we're essentially trying to target these very specific problems that we've identified in kids with bipolar disorder in their brains and to build up certain skills in the hope that if we build up those skills, not only will they be better at this particular video game or computer task but that improvement would generalize to being better at home, better at school, more in control of their emotions, more stable," Dickstein said.
"Well, so far it seems to be working," Karen Ferris said.
Hunter now goes to the Bradley School on the East Providence campus.
"Once I transferred here I got all As and one B in every single report card," Hunter said.
For the first time in a long time, this family has hope.
"We do, we do. And you know, it's a long road and when we first got the initial diagnosis that was the first thing out of the doctor's mouth. He told us it was a bipolar diagnosis, this is not something you're going to fix in days or weeks or months," Karen Ferris said.
Hunter said he has hopes and dreams, too.
"I wanted to be in the Navy or I wanted to be a police officer," Hunter said.
Karen Ferris said don't judge a child who misbehaves in public because you don't know his or her story.
Dickstein is doing is inspiring hope for children with bipolar disorder through his pediatric mood, imaging and neurodevelopment program, or "Pedi MIND," at Bradley.
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