Bipolar Disorder in Children and Teens
Bipolar Disorder in Children and Teens
A very common disorder in adults in the United States is Bipolar disorder, with more than 10 million confirmed cases (WebMD, 2013). For many years it was thought that only adults could develop the disorder, but studies have shown that the disorder is showing up more and more in teens and children alike. Having only anti-depressant medications being made specifically for adults, the real question is how to treat these teens and children who were diagnosed with Bipolar disorder (BD).
According to Fountoulakis, Bipolar disorder, which was formally known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood and energy, from low depressions to high manias. “There are three subtypes of Bipolar disorder: Bipolar I disorder, Bipolar II disorder, and Cyclothymic disorder”(2012). Bipolar I disorder causes rapid shifts in mood that affect every day activities and their manic episodes may become dangerous. Bipolar II disorder is less severe than that of Bipolar I, patients are usually able to live normal lives with less drastic mood shifts. Unlike full blown mania in Bipolar I, Bipolar II patients would have hypomania, which is a less severe form of mania. Also, Bipolar II patients the depression stage usually lasts longer than that of the hypomania phase. Cyclothymic disorder is a mild form of BD, the patients may still experience disruptive highs and lows but they are not as severe (2012).
Fortunately there are medications for BD that can reduce the sudden shifts in the patients’ mood to help them with lead full and productive lives. BD will often develop in an individuals’ late teens or early adulthood, but most often their first symptoms are developed during childhood. At least half of all cases the patient developed symptoms before the age of 25(American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2012). Children and teens BD slightly differs...