Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a disorder of mood. Called “bipolar” because the mood varies between the two poles of mania and depression, the condition affects about .5 to 4 percent of the adult population, depending on the diagnostic criteria used. That figure has been pretty steady over time. What has changed has been the number of children, pre-adolescents, and early adolescents diagnosed with BD recently. These numbers have skyrocketed, causing debate about whether, in fact, all these children suffer from true BD. While we know that mid and later-adolescents often suffer from forms of BD similar to those in adults, children younger than this can present with a wide variety of more vague, generalized, and diffuse symptoms. We are not sure of the exact number of correctly diagnosed children but do know for sure that the numbers have increased from 400 to 4000 percent depending on the criteria used. Thus, the number of children receiving medication for BD is still an evolving phenomenon.
BD is classified as a mood disorder and is characterized by periods of depression and mania (elevated mood, grandiosity, irritability, flight of ideas, rapid speech and motor hyperactivity) in adults, and only recently has become a more general diagnosis in young people. There is controversy about whether in fact true bipolar disorder exists in children.
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Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical or psychiatric advice for individual conditions or treatment and does not substitute for a medical or psychiatric examination. A psychiatrist must make a determination about any treatment or prescription. Dr. Paul does not assume any responsibility or risk for the use of any information contained within this blog.