Children and Bipolar Disease
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
For most of the 20th century, the psychiatric profession did not believe there could be bipolar children. Manic depression, also called bipolar disorder, was considered to be something that only emerged in adults, despite some contrary evidence a few early researchers seemed to have that certain symptoms in adults had manifested before they were ten. What resulted was that all manic depression treatments were for adults. It was difficult to find any reliable bipolar data about either symptoms or treatments for children, for a very long time.
Things have gotten better to some degree; certainly the current treatments have greatly improved the situation. But another reason why it’s hard to treat bipolar disorder is that the symptoms tend to overlap with those of other disorders. For example, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may resemble bipolar disorder in its manic phase. Bipolar children with those symptoms are often diagnosed only because they are more aggressive, with more behavioral problems, than if they only had ADHD. With such overlapping of symptoms, what this means is that diagnosing the problem and finding the right medical treatments is very difficult.
Anxiety disorders can also be an indicator that doctors should watch for manic depression as well, since children with these disorders are more likely also to develop bipolar disorder. Children with bipolar disorder may often have had treatment already for full-blown depressive episodes, which served as precursors for the later illness. Even irritability and hypersensitivity might be warning signs, if they last for days at a time.
Diagnosis is controversial, though, because children with bipolar disorder are much more likely to be diagnosed in the United States than in other parts of the world. Interpretations vary on whether this is because there is simply over diagnosis in the U.S., or whether US doctors are simply recognizing a problem that really exists. Bipolar info and interpretation of symptoms varies considerably from country to country.
The treatment options available for manic depression are also likely to vary between countries. Yet it’s important to settle the question about diagnosis, because if this disorder truly manifests in bipolar children, it seems to be more intense for them than for adults. Some antipsychotic drugs that are used to treat it carry the risk of liver damage, heart problems or even diabetes. But not using the drugs could put the children at increased risk of psychosis, cognitive impairment or suicide. To find the best possible treatment for these children, a correct diagnosis is crucial.
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