My daughter was not diagnosed with bipolar until she was 19. She was having delusional thoughts for at least three years before that. For her it started out with an alter ego named Alura. She gradually started believing more and more things happened to her that were not true. It culminated in a hospital stay where she said we had once lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, where we hypnotized her, horribly abused her, then erased her memory, and moved. But now she was remembering it all. It was pretty traumatic for the whole family at the time. Even though the accusations were completely far-fetched, cps had to come and interview the other children. This was when we first realized that there was no one there to help. She was discharged after 3 or 4 days with one non refillable prescription for an antipsychotic, and we had to figure out completely on our own how to find the help she needed. Don't worry, you won't be on your own. You have MAT here to help you.

When my daughter first started having delusional thinking, we wrote it off as an active imagination. It was hard to think it could be more. Your son is young, and it could be something else, but that is a job for a qualified psychiatrist to figure out. It is not as uncommon as people think for kids on the spectrum to get a bipolar or schizophrenia diagnosis as an adult. Maybe it was always that, but it just looks like autism as a child. (But, I have other kids on the spectrum that did not develop mental illness) Don't panic. It is just a different diagnosis, not a worse one. He is still the same child, and he can still achieve great things once he is properly medicated.

A couple of thoughts; First thought, sometimes our kiddos have a hard time distinguishing reality from fantasy. Kids have great play imaginations, and he might just have a hard time separating the two things. Remember, our Kids tend to be behind an average of 6 years. Your kiddo is five, so I'm sure his isn't 6 years , but if he views the world in some aspects as a much younger child, then this could be all he's dealing with. The second thought is that he might be experiencing symptoms of P.A.N.S. or P.A.N.D.A.S. Please read up on them and see if they sound like your kiddo.

M's symptoms didn't start until she was a teen. I see you are in the UK. I am not familiar with your mental health system. I would try to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist. My guess is that they will be very reticent to give a formal diagnosis that young. But, at least the symptoms will be being monitored. I have a friend whose son also has autism. He had been having delusions and hearing voices for quite a while before the doctor gave him a schizophrenia diagnosis last year at 13. However, even though he didn't have a diagnosis before that, his symptoms were still being treated.

Sending love to both you guys. I have never heard of this. Wow. Please keep educating us who are new to this.
Thanks for sharing this post.