Bipolar Disorder can now be diagnosed in children, due to the advances in medicine today. It was thought before that the disorder only started from as early as adolescence to adults. Identifications tests are now being used to detect this disorder in childhood, which means that treatment can begin at an earlier age.
A child that is diagnosed early has a much better chance of getting treatment for their symptoms. They are able to get help to cope with the problems of the illness, so that stability can be achieved and realise when they are as well as they can be. As they get older they will be more self aware of their disorder and be more well adjusted as adults. The right treatment will enable them to lead a normal life as their illness is controlled.
Those children already diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in the United States have been found to be significantly more likely to develop the disorder. There are children and adolescents who already suffer from relapsing bouts of depression, which could indicate early signs of bipolar disorder, although they have not experienced a manic episode yet.
If more studies are conducted in medicine, the more we would be able to identify how common this disorder is surfacing amongst the younger generation.
The characteristics of the mental illness of Bipolar disorder is by depressive episodes and mania (or extreme euphoria). There are variations to this order in children compared with that of adults. Children will generally alter in mood constantly with rapid cycles of depression and mania. These rapid mood cycles give rise to ongoing irritability, with periods inbetween where they will feel well.
Bipolar Disorder is diagnosed in adults by using DSM-IV criteria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV). It is difficult to use this to diagnose children as detailed criteria has been established yet.
Children who are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder are commonly found to have the following behaviour patterns:
1. overanxious at being apart from family even during a short time
2. apathy, depression, passiveness
3. problems with authority
4. wetting the bed
5. craving for carbohydrates and sweet things
6. experiencing delusions and hallucinations
7. insomnia
8. irritability
9. a fast change of mood over a few hours or days
10. a temper that is destructive extensively
11. grandiose ideas
12. night fears, ranting
13. inappropriate sexual behaviour
14. very talkative with fanciful ideas
Whilst a child is an infant, signs of the disorder are recogniseable. Once a child is later diagnosed, parents have cited behaviour which has been erratic such as unusual clinginess and far reaching tantrums like seizures.
Children or Paediatric Bipolar Syndrome is classified into four sections just like the adults: Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Cyclothymia, and Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
A patient with Bipolar I has episodes of serious depression and pychotic manic episodes which switch from one to the other.
A patient with Bipolar II switches from periods of hypomania to episodes of depression. A person can be highly creative with hypomania. With hypomania a person can feel more elated or quite irritable, and also they find that they have more mental energy as well as physical.
Cyclothymia is a milder mood disorder where there are recurrent mood disturbances.
The last is Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified is where a doctor is unable to classify a disorder under any of the three as mentioned before classifications. A person experiences mood swings like a manic depressive but there are also other symptoms which cannot be categorised as either Bipolar I, Bipolar II or Cyclothymia.
If a child is going through a worrying time, and their welfare becomes a concern, the parents will want to seek professional help. This is necessary particularly if a child starts to talk about suicide. A doctor will refer your child to a psychiatrist, and this can be done as an emergency case if necessary, so the disorder can be dealt with and treated immediately.
It is a good idea for any adult who has children and suspect they may have some kind of disorder, to note their behaviour in a diary, for example, to keep a record of how the child behaves, their speech, any strange activity and their sleep patterns. This is important and will help any doctor to evaluate your child and prescribe the correct treatment. Your observations could help with a quick diagnosis.
Your child can be helped with the right course of medication, psychotherapy to include the child and family, awareness of the disorder, a good diet for nutrition, noting the symptoms and behaviour, daily exercise which aids in getting good sleep and coping mechanisms for stress.
By the parents and medical professionals working together, the best care can be given in treating your child. With the family getting involved throughout the treatment plan, this will help the children immensely. They are reassured that you as parents are by their side with all the love and support you can give, which will lessen recurring episodes, the incidences and the intensity of any symptoms by recognising them before they get any worse by knowing what plan of action to take. Community help is also available to help the individual and family with extra support.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/14-symptoms-of-bipolar-disorder-in-children-how-to-cope-with-it-739494.html
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:30 am
Was I misdiagnosed with Bipolar disorder instead or ADD?
When I was 15 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, directly following my fathers suicide. I was forced to see a psychiatrist by abusive, alcoholic mother and was informed I had bipolar disorder all from a 5 question survey?? I however, have never experienced the " high and low" manic episodes. Depression, well plenty of that obviously, but bi polar disorder symptoms like feeling happy one moment and sad the next, and sudden outbursts or energy, speaking fast etc NEVER. I was put on Lamical ( mood stabilizer ) and prozac- neither which helped whatsoever.( Stopped taking medication after a yr)
Now at 22, I feel my symptoms relate to ADHD but have heard that I had to have been diagnosed as a child- my symptoms :
severe depression
procrastination
lack of motivation / forgetfulness
impulsiveness! ( im constantly making poor choices w/out thinking )
trouble coping with life period.
trouble concentrating ( procrastinating my own thoughts, literally )
HELPPPPP
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
If you want a totally honest answer, you most likely have neither ADHD nor do you have Bipolar. You have PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder. Very curable. The give away was it flared up after your dad’s suicide. None of what you describe is a real mental illness. You are having trouble coping. You don’t need drugs for what you describe, you need some really solid counseling from a really good caring therapist (good luck there) or someone more like a peer counselor or a pastoral counselor (lots of duds there too). I realize you will probably just throw away my comments that you are really ok, but instead, I want you to have hope instead. You articulate your problems far too well to really have an actual mental illness. PTSD.. yes, and that isn’t a mental illness, it is a reaction to extreme stress that hasn’t been resolved. Good luck.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Depression is definitely not a symptom of ADHD.
Impulsiveness could be a symptom of ADHD or Bipolar Disorder.
It’s possible that you might have a combination of Major Depression and ADHD, or maybe Bipolar DIsorder II (which is Major Depression with mild mania; less severe than Bipolar Disorder I).
I disagree with the PTSD idea; you didn’t say anything about having recurring dreams about a traumatic event.
However, psychiatric diagnoses are pretty subjective. Psychiatrists often change a diagnosis, they are not written in stone. What is more important is whether the medication helped you or not.
You could see another psychiatrist. There are other medications that might work better for you.
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Worked in mental health since 1987, treated for Major Depression and Dysthymic Disorder since 1983, my brother and a cousin have Bipolar Disorder.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
You’re halfway to having a grip. You’re right, any "disorder" assigned by a 5-question survey is no real medical condition but an excuse to sell pharmies. The surveys used are generally so vague that any practicing shrink could assign half the "disorders" to the majority of the population if they felt like it. Even giving you the 5-question survey was just a way to pretend they had some kind of clue. In reallity, they were just pill-pushing.
What you describe is also something entirely normal for a teen to go through after a traumatic event like a father’s suicide. In other words, calling it a "disorder" is ridiculous. It’s expected to happen and expected to be temporary. They may have made matters worse by pushing pills on you. If you don’t need a "mood stabilizer," you may end up with no mood at all from taking them. As for Prozac, it’s the worst substitute for real life to hit the world since heroin and lsd. It’s a magic "happy pill" designed to make you feel ok with things through the wonderful world of brain chemistry, as opposed to things actually being ok. It’s no wonder it actually drives some people to be suicidal when they otherwise wouldn’t be.
Everything that you list ties into basic depression. Prozac is a bad cure for depression. Life change is the best thing. Not everybody can do it. But you seem to have more motivation than you think, you took the time to post this and it made sense. It takes time, but when your circumstances change your brain chemistry can get out of the ditch.
Using meds is never a real fix for brain chemistry and it often makes matters worse. If possible it’s better to live the way people evolved to live. That doesn’t include brain-chemistry alteration.
Psychologists style themselves as expert scientists; be careful of that, it’s dangerous. The mind isn’t a discrete subject for scientific study, and the terms and paradigms used are vague and subject to interpretation. Shrinks style themselves out as doctors, now, also… they’re not. The mind and the brain aren’t the same thing. What they’re "expert" at is a false science, like alchemy.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Yeah you don’t have ADHD. And they diagnosed you wrong period. Doing a stupid survey shouldn’t determine anything. You most likely do have PTSD from your fathers death(I’m sorry for that btw). But you could have most likely developed some sort of depression from that, which IS a mental illness..and there are tons of different types of depressions so I don’t know. Go to several different people who can diagnose you. I myself have Bipolar type 2 and 7 different doctors all came to the same conclusion and they have never met before. I take Selexor(sp) now for it and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, I dunno. But I get abnormal mood swings..and suicidal, homicidal intentions, which are still in my mind. Seeking help for whatever you have will take a long time, but work on your problem. And you can have a mental illness and still be able to write perfectly and in an intelligent manner. There’s a difference between mental retardation and mental illness.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 12:40 pm
My sister has been through all of this as well. She too never really experienced very high moments of energy, so she has questioned her diagnosis’s many times as well. They explained that she has bi-polar disorder because she can go from one extreme emotion to another without very much provocation. She will be perfectly fine sitting around having a good day with family when someone can ask her a simple question that snaps her into such a depressive rage that it is unbelievable unless you see it actually happen. If you think that you were misdiagnosed no one can give you a proper answer on your mental health through a small Yahoo Answers Question. I recommend finding a new doctor with a great reputation and seeing what they have to say.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I don’t want to answer your if you are bipolar or not, because I am not an expert on these matters.
I will tell that 81/2 years ago a doctor that was substituting for my own gave me one of those questionnaires when I was feeling ill. One question asked if I ever get afraid. I answered honestly by stating sometimes. This temporary doctor told me I needed help with my head because I get afraid sometimes, and wanted to give me some medication like prozac.
I refused, because I am human, and like all humans I get scared once in a while. That same day I called my gyno upset and they saw me right away. They gave me a physical exam, not a mental written test, and concluded I was not sick, mentally or physically. I was pregnant.
A five question can be wrong. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 12:44 pm
I just want to say that I agree with the first answer listed. You most likely have PTSD. Now other things such as depression can come after experiencing such a horrible event just based on dealing with the PTSD. I would strongly recommend that you find a psychiatrist trained in dealing with PTSD, because it is a condition that can be treated.
References :
http://severeanxietyhelp.com
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
YEP! definitely bipolar. should know since i have had it since i was a child and am now in my early 50’s. you need to go and see a psychiatrist for a definite diagnosis though and medication. there are some really excellent meds out there now and that can really help with bipolar.
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bipolar.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
You can have adult ADHD – I would get a second opinion and tell the psychiatrist what you told us
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