The following is a copy of an excellent WEB MD article on bipolar disorder diagnosis in children.When people ask me about childhood onset bipolar disorder, I always have the same answer: I believe that what we call bipolar disorder in children is VERY different than what we consider bipolar disorder in adults.
One of the main differences is the level of anger, irritation, tolerance levels and duration of screaming, crying, and out of control mood swings. Another very imporant distinction is the ADHD behavior of these kids. They have more of the hyperactivity part of the ADHD than adults who are usually diagnosed with ADD.My heart goes out to these kids as I know they have a lot of troubling symptoms, but like many people in this industry- I question these bipolar disorder diagnoses.
This is a looonnnggg article- which is why I’ve put it in two posts, but the information is extremely helpful. It’s very important to note that this about the diagnosis of children with bipolar disorder, not the teenage, early 20’s onset that most of us experience.
Here is the article:
1 Decade, 40 Times More Bipolar Kids
Child Bipolar Explosion — or Rampant Misdiagnosis?
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDSept. 4, 2007 — Today’s children and teens are 40 times more likely to have bipolar disorder than were the children of 10 years ago.
That’s 20 times faster than the growth in diagnoses of adult bipolar disorder over the same decade. Are we only now discovering a huge reservoir of untreated psychiatric illness? [... Read More ...]
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