Childhood Bipolar Disorder

"Learning that one's child has bipolar disorder can be traumatic. Diagnosis usually follows months or years of the child's mood instability, school difficulties, and damaged relationships with family and friends. However, diagnosis can and should be a turning point for everyone conce ed. Once ..."Learning that one's child has bipolar disorder can be traumatic. Diagnosis usually follows months or years of the child's mood instability, school difficulties, and damaged relationships with family and friends. However, diagnosis can and should be a turning point for everyone conce ed. Once the illness is identified, energies can be directed towards treatment, education, and developing coping strategies." ......From the website of Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation ..........................................http://www.bpkids.org The most frequent age at onset of bipolar disorder is during adolescence. However, in adolescence and in children, it is commonly mis-diagnosed as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other mood disorders. As a result, children and adolescents with bipolar disorder are often initially treated with medication that may exacerbate the illness, such as antidepressants and stimulants. The differential diagnosis of bipolar disorder in older adolescents and adults sometimes includes schizophrenia and substance use disorders. The main differential diagnosis of prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder is ADHD. Grandiosity is not characteristically present in childhood mania. Being hyperenergetic and distractible could occur in either bipolar disorder or ADHD. In bipolar disorder, severe irritability is the predominant abnormal mood rather than euphoria. For information on bipolar disorder in children and adolescents, click http://www.bpkids.org.