Bipolar Disorder In Children
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar Disorder is a complex medical issue of the brain, which manifests itself as a mental illness. It is often hereditary and seen in multiple family members, including children as young as five or six years of age.
How does Bipolar Disorder express itself?
The most simplistic way to explain Bipolar Disorder is as an irregular pattern of changes in mood, energy, and thinking.
There is little rhyme or reason as to why some people suffer frequent mood swings and other patterns of change, while some see little change from month to month. Perhaps one of the most difficult components of this disorder is that changes occur without warning, as the environment, life circumstances, and the body of the individual changes.
How common is Bipolar Disorder in Children?
It is only in recent years that professionals have started to recognize the prevalence of children with Bipolar Disorder. It is now thought that the number has, for decades, been significantly higher than the diagnosis', and that many children formerly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), are in fact, bipolar. Current statistics from the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) show that approximately 7% of children seen at psychiatric facilities have Bipolar Disorder.
What are the Symptoms of Childhood Bipolar Disorder?
One cannot look at the symptoms in an isolated sense, because the symptoms are also common to many other disorders, such as attention deficit. However, a child who presents with many of the symptoms should be given a full scale evaluation to determine if Bipolar Disorder is present. Symptoms include irritability, hyperactivity, distractibility, elated moods, grandiose ideas, decreased need for sleep, and a flight of ideas that quickly tracks from one to the next. Children will undoubtedly also go through periods of a depressed mood, where they will cry and speak of death and suicide, and making statements as to wondering why they were ever born.
What treatment options are available for children with Bipolar Disorder?
Diagnosing children with Bipolar Disorder is still a relatively new event, and little research is available on best treatment options. Many clinicians have seen excellent results using psychosocial techniques, while others use medications to treat children. Medications that are commonly used in adults are being shown to have negative side effects in children, the primary one being significant weight gains that lead to other medical conditions such as diabetes. Some of the most successful stories are those who combine psychosocial therapy with low dosages of drugs such as Lithium.
For IPP: MaryEllen Smith Tavares
