Bipolar Difficult to Diagnose in Kids
Experts believe the symptoms of bi-polar disorder begin to appear in childhood or adolescence for at least a third of individuals. However, in children it can be difficult to distinguish bipolar symptoms from those of other disorders.
A report in the May 2007 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter discusses the challenge faced by physicians and parents in identifying the disorder.
Also, many symptoms that may stem from bipolar disorder also occur in other childhood disorders: moods fluctuating in very rapid cycles, sometimes from hour to hour; irritability and agitation; or bursts of rage.
Bipolar disorder in children is especially difficult to distinguish from ADHD, since they share a number of symptoms—impulsiveness, distractibility, and hyperactivity. Up to 30 percent of children originally diagnosed with ADHD eventually receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Research suggests that some children diagnosed with bipolar disorder have a different condition, recently labeled “severe mood dysregulation.” Although both conditions involve periodic irritability and hyperactivity, electrical signals in the brains of children thought to have severe mood dysregulation are different from brain signals in children with bipolar disorder.
It is important to treat diagnosed bipolar disorder. In adults, that means the use of mood stabilizers—frequently several drugs in combination. The same drugs are increasingly prescribed for children. Psychotherapy can also help.
“In coming years we are likely to develop better ways to define the mood problems of children. Nonetheless, childhood bipolar disorder is a real and serious illness that should be recognized and treated as early as possible,” says Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Source: Harvard Mental Health Letter
Nauert PhD, R. (2015). Bipolar Difficult to Diagnose in Kids. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 4, 2016, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/04/27/bipolar-difficult-to-diagnose-in-kids/786.html