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Things got much worse. Michael was only seven the first time he threatened to hurt himself. Janice had found him banging his head against a wall and thrusting a carving knife inside his mouth (luckily he was not hurt). She frantically called the pediatrician, who recommended that she take him to a child psychiatrist immediately. This began a long and confusing string of visits to different doctors and trials of medications.The first psychiatrist gave Michael a pill to calm him down, diagnosed him with panic disorder and prescribed an antipsychotic medication to take as needed. He warned the Bonises to lock up any sharp objects around their home until he saw Michael again. Two days later, Michael was admitted to the hospital as an outpatient and given a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation. The doctors added an antidepressant to Michael's medication, and he was discharged with three diagnoses: panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and separation anxiety.
Third and fourth grades were an on-and-off struggle. But through it all, even when Michael was treading water in school due to erratic attendance, sports remained his lifeline. Depending on the season, he played baseball or basketball, in pickup games or on organized teams. "That's the one time I saw him enjoying himself," says Janice, "really being a kid."
Hitting Bottom
"In July 2006, things just crumbled," says Janice. Michael's rages and temper tantrums escalated. His friendships were dwindling because he had no desire to be with other kids. "At home, he was literally bouncing off the walls," Janice says. He was cursing and punching his parents, jumping on sofas, throwing appliances and kicking holes in the walls. "We never knew when this monster would show up." One day, he grabbed a kitchen knife and held it to his chest and, while standing atop the kitchen table, reached between the revolving blades of the ceiling fan with his pitching hand. When the Bonises took their son to the ER of the local hospital, they were sent away and told there was nothing the hospital could do for him. But soon Michael began taking more risks, such as trying to jump out of a moving car.
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