Are these mood swings typical in a 12 year old?

[Winkinn]

What are your 12 year olds like?

Mine can be happy, almost manic, joyful, chatty, exuberant, loving and playful and in the blink of an eye completely turn inward and stare vacantly at the wall, flat as a pancake and barely able to muster an answer to a question….
She also can be very emotional, tearful, shaky, anxious, panicky… sometimes scratch herself with overwhelm.

I’m taking her to a see psychologist for adhd/autism assessment but I’m worried it’s something more than that…

she’s always been up and down but nothing as extreme until now.

Any advice or thoughts very welcome 🙏

Has she had periods yet? They can induce very difficult mood swings

And these can be very successfully managed on the back to back pill - suppressing her periods completely.

Not yet…

Sorry I can’t help but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along soon

I very well remember the absolute craziness of peak hormones at that age. I didn't ever get panicky or anxious, but I could be absolutely fine one minute and in tears the next, for no reason. I remember vividly feeling absolutely enraged when my mum came in the room when I was in a tap dance class once - she literally came in, dropped in a letter, then exited - I was fizzing with fury!

It's probably normal and will settle as puberty proceeds, but keep an eye on it and help her learn some coping mechanisms. The self harm is concerning.

Completely normal. She’ll settle down once her period comes.

My first thought was hormones as well. Perfectly normal for teens emotions to go a little crazy.

However, if you feel she’s blanking out and looking vacant, maybe worth having a word with gp.