Suggest Treatment For Aggressive Behavior And Depressive Mood

My husband and I, along with our 9-year-old son, Cole, have moved three times in the last 18 months (once internationally, to Cape Town, South Africa). Cole has been in three different schools. Unfortunately, his teacher in Cape Town humiliated him in front of the class and punished him severely, including knocking him on the head. The children in Cape Town bullied him quite a bit. (Odd, it has never happened here.) During that entire time, my husband was unemployed. We have gone from a owning a beautiful house and driving a BMW convertible to being unable to buy basic groceries some weeks. My husband at last started a new job last week. We were pretty happy to get back to a routine. Then yesterday, Cole had a huge breakdown. We had a small disciplinary incident and he became hysterical. I was holding his hamster at the time, and he lunged at me and tried to rip her out of my hands, almost crushing her. He began throwing things and hitting himself. This continued for about 20 minutes. Then, he laid down in fetal position and sobbed and cried for the hamster. He said he hated himself and that he wished he was never born. This was very frightening for both of us. Today, I cancelled all of our activities, and we had a pamper day. I made him a bubble bath and fed him a good breakfast. We walked into town for lunch and I bought him a stuffed animal. We cuddled and watched a movie and played board games. I felt like he needed to be cared for. (BTW, we did not back down at all on the consequences for his original wrongdoing.) Cole was very quiet and clingy and cuddly today. He spent a lot of time talking to his stuffed animals. This is not totally unheard of, but definitely a bit much. I m still pretty shaken up. And I m hoping it isn t a sign that he is mentally ill. I have bipolar disorder. It seems to have come down from my paternal grandmother. In any case, do you have any observations or suggestions for me? Thanks, Cindy