Children and Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is known as manic depression, it is a serious medical disorder and is links to families and require treatments. Diagnosing and treating children and teenagers with bipolar is an emerging field that needs more research so that it can be fully understood.

There is medication to treat bipolar disorder these medications are powerful and can cause major side effects. Bipolar is less common in small children than adult mainly 1%.

If your child has been diagnosed with Bipolar, it's always wise to seek the opinion of a doctor, who specializes in this field of medicine.

Bipolar is not diagnosed in a child until approximately six years old. Tell your doctor about your family history including depression in and other problems that could help.

Children and teens with bipolar often have more rapid mood changes than adults, they change from being manic and high energy to depression in minutes or days. Children and teens with this disorder appear to have depression or attention deficit disorder but when they are treated with antidepressant or stimulants, it can make their symptoms worse or even trigger mania. Anyone with these symptoms of depression should be evaluated to make sure they are at risk of having a bipolar disorder.

Parents have to watch for manic symptoms because children and teens with bipolar might not omit they have a problem. Some live their lives in denial because of shame, not wanting others to know they have an illness. If you feel that your child or teen might have this disorder, contact your doctor as soon as possible.