Raising Bipolar

So, when 2010 began Don and I agreed that as a part of Rye’s mood management routine here at the house we would incorporate regular massage to help him relax and regulate his anxiety and overall mood.  Don and I are both big fans of and believers in massage and between us use massage weekly as a way to manage our own stress and overall health.  Originally the plan was to get Rye regular professional massages.  However, because money has been tight and we have not been able to afford professional massages, this has never been done.  And that did not occur to me until last night.

Rye was wound up last night and could not settle in and relax to go to sleep.  His mood was elevating and elevating, becoming more and more hyper/irritable/anxious, and it dawned on me that we had never done the massage.  It seemed like a time where it might really help so I thought ‘what the heck, let’s give it a go.  I’ll give Rye a massage myself and see if that helps.’  At first I wondered if it would be weird due to his age and gender (which is why we originally wanted to do professional massages) but I then got over myself and realized it was me or nothing and it might really help him.  So, I went for it.  And, the results were great.

I massaged his back, arms, legs and shoulders and although he started the massage having a difficult time relaxing and laughing non- stop from the tickling, he did finally relax and I was able to really massage the muscles.  Within 30 minutes he was drooling and nearly asleep.   He fell asleep about 10 minutes after I was done and slept through the night.  This morning when he woke up he told me that last night was the best sleep he has ever had in his whole life.

So, success!

I could not believe the difference in him in just 30 minutes.  He went from going 100 mph to dead asleep.  Incredible.

Now we really will incorporate this into his routine.

Here are some studies and articles on the benefits of massage on children and teens with regard to mood, attention, anxiety and neurotransmitter balance:

Field, T., Morrow, C., Valdeon, C., Larson, S., Kuhn, C., & Schanberg, S., (1992). Massage reduces anxiety in child and adolescent psychiatric patients. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 125-131.
¥ Compared with a control group who viewed relaxing videotapes, the massaged subjects were less depressed and anxious and had lower saliva cortisol levels after the massage. In addition, nighttime sleep increased for both groups over the study period and urinary cortisol and norepinephrine levels decreased, but only for depressed patients.

http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/ChildMassage.html

A recent study by Field et al 1998, showed massage therapy to decrease fidgeting and improve scores on the Conners Scale (Conners, 1995) in adolescents with ADHD. Massage therapy has also been shown to increase serotonin levels (Field et al 1996, Ironson et al 1996) which might help modulate elevated dopamine levels thought to occur in children with ADHD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2538473/

The balancing of hormones and neurotransmitters can be encouraged naturally with massage. Shifting people from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state, massage brings about several physiological and chemical changes in the body, including increases in serotonin and endorphin secretion, and a decrease in cortisol. A majority of studies investigating the effects of massage measure these three chemicals because they are crucial ingredients for each person’s health. In general, serotonin and endorphins function to make people feel good, while cortisol functions to transmit feelings of pain and stress. Nearly every clinical trial evaluating massage therapy reports that bodywork enhances serotonin and endorphin levels, and reduces circulating levels of cortisol. [...]

Published in 1992 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, TRI researchers found that a 30-minute back massage given daily for five days reduced anxiety of hospitalized, depressed and adjustment disorder children and adolescents.

http://www.massage4me.com/articles