For many years the psychiatric profession didn’t even believe there could be such a thing as bipolar children. Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, was described as an illness that emerged only in adulthood, even though some early researchers seemed to have evidence that some of the symptoms that adults exhibited had actually manifested well before they were ten years old. Yet manic depression treatment options were geared explicitly toward adults for many decades because of this belief. Bipolar information about both symptoms and treatments for children was scarce for a long time.
Some progress has been made, and current treatments help children more than before. But bipolar disorder can be hard to treat because so many of its symptoms overlap other disorders as well. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for example, can resemble the manic phase of manic depression. Often the only reason bipolar children with these symptoms are diagnosed is that they are more aggressive and exhibit more behavioral problems than if they had ADHD alone. All of this means that both diagnosis and finding the right medical treatments can be quite the challenge.
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.
This means that treatment for manic depression will also vary between countries. Yet if this disorder is genuine, it appears to be more intense in bipolar children than in adults, so it’s important to find the right therapies. Some of the antipsychotic drugs usually prescribed for this disorder can damage the liver and increase the risk of heart problems or diabetes. Yet without the medications, children are at risk of psychosis, cognitive impairment or even suicide. Correct diagnosis is crucial, so that the best treatments can be devised, and the risk to the children minimized as much as possible.
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