WEB MD article on childhood onset bipolar disorder pt one

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? Or is there an epidemic not of disease, but of misdiagnosis and overtreatment?

The study that provides this alarming data doesn’t answer this crucial question, says study researcher Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute.

“We found a striking national increase in the treatment of young people for bipolar disorder: from 20,000 youths in 1994 to 800,000 youths in 2003,” Olfson tells WebMD. “The study does not tell us why so many more kids are being diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. But it gives us clues.”

Those clues:

Bipolar disorder is often a lifelong condition. More bipolar disorder in children should mean a corresponding increase in adults with bipolar disorder. Olfson says that isn’t happening. This means we’re either discovering previously unrecognized bipolar disorder in children, or that we’re misdiagnosing children.

Youths diagnosed with bipolar disorder are more likely than adults to also be diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

Most adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder are female. Most children and teens diagnosed with bipolar disorder are male.

“It is my sense that most of these people are boys around age 12, and many have ADHD or at least are treated for that with stimulants,” Olfson says.

During the 10 years covered by the study, the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder have broadened. “Many adults and young people who would not have been considered to have bipolar disorder now are,” Olfson says.

Part two of the article is below…..