Ask Dr. Schwartz: Psychotherapy and Mental Health questions
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I have a 17 yr old daughter, will be 18 in 2 months, who hasn\'t been officially diagnosed with bi-polar disorder but in doing much research, I pretty much swear she has it. She spent a year in a boarding school her freshman year for rebellios and defiant teens....that didn\'t really help. She\'s been on all kinds of meds for ADHD in her adolescent and early teen years. That helped. But she refuses to see anyone or take anything now. But her defiance, her mood swings, her yelling and cussing is killing us. We allowed her to quit school and get her GED - which she did. We only did that because she was so close to getting expelled and we didn\'t want that on her record. She\'s held down two fast-food jobs for 1-week each. She quit and swore it was their fault...she never wants to work at a fast food restaurant again. She is an artist and plays the guitar and piano. She\'s very talented. We hate to see her waste herself, but we just can\'t handle it unless she gets help. When she\'s 18 we are telling her she can only stay with us if she quits swearing, yelling, and she must show respect and get some help. Right now she just wants to get out. She is mooching off of anyone who will let her stay with them. I guess what I\'m really asking is this. Is there any kind of intervention available? I know there is, but for this type of problem? Or should we just let her accept the consequences for her actions. Oh, we\'ve been asked by a couple of professionals (one being the local law enforcement) if she\'s ever been checked for bi-polar.....so it\'s that obvious. Thank you.

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