BipolarCentral
Your One Stop Source For Information On Bipolar Disorder

Loved One With Bipolar Disorder?
Discover how to cope and deal
With your loved one's bipolar.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Do You Have Bipolar Disorder?
Discover how to cope and deal
With your bipolar disorder.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Child With Bipolar Disorder?
Learn How to REALLY Help
And Support Your Child.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Dating Someone With Bipolar?
Secrets Revealed.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Marrying Someone With Bipolar?
Avoid Mistakes.
Click here for FREE information.

Need Money Because of Bipolar Disorder?
Click here for FREE Report
 

Drug Addiction and Bipolar Disorder
Secrets to Beating It
Click here for FREE information.
 

Need Affordable High
Quality Health Insurance?
Click here for FREE information.
 

In Debt Because of Bipolar Disorder?
Get out of debt fast.
Click here for FREE information.
 

Improve Your Emotional Health
Reduce Your Stress Levels
Increase Your Brain Power
Click here for more information.

About Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: An Introduction

By David Oliver

NOTE: The following article will be a several-part series. This first part will simply cover the introductory information on this disorder, with subsequent articles covering symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, medication, etc. Please note that the terms Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder are interchangeable and refer to the same disorder.

Bipolar Disorder is a serious, but treatable, mental illness. It is a medical illness – a disorder of the brain (a chemical imbalance) marked by extreme changes in mood, thinking, energy, and behavior.

Symptoms of this disorder may be present since infancy or early childhood, or they may suddenly emerge in adolescence or adulthood.

Until recent years, a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder was rarely made in childhood; however, doctors now recognize and treat this disorder in children as young as toddlers – called Pediatric Bipolar Disorder or Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder.

Early diagnosis, intervention, and treatment offer the best chance for children with Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder to achieve stability; to gain the best possible level of wellness and maturity; to grow up and enjoy their specific gifts and talents; and to build upon their personal strengths.

Proper treatment for Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder can minimize the adverse effects of the disorder on the lives of these children and the lives of those who love them.

How common is Pediatric Bipolar Disorder (Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder)?

There is no statistical answer to this question, but the numbers are growing every day. Because Bipolar Disorder does affect over five million adults worldwide, the more we learn about the disorder, the more prevalent it appears to be among children and adolescents. For instance:

• About 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the population age 18 and older in any given year, have Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar Disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. However, some people have their first symptoms during childhood…
• It is suspected that a significant number of children diagnosed in the United States with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) actually have Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder instead of, or along with, ADHD.
• Depression in children and teens is usually chronic and relapsing. According to several studies, a significant proportion of the 3.4 million children and adolescents with depression in the United States may actually be experiencing the early onset of Bipolar Disorder, but have not yet experienced the manic phase of the illness.
• Findings from a study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) suggest that Bipolar Disorder may be at least as common among youth as among adults. In this study, 1% of adolescents ages 14 to 18 were found to have met criteria for Bipolar Disorder or cyclothymia, a similar but milder illness, in their lifetime.

As you can tell, Pediatric Bipolar Disorder (Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder) is more prevalent than earlier considered. If you think your child or adolescent may have this disorder, watch for next month’s article, which will list the symptoms of the disorder.

About the Author

David Oliver is the founder of FreeBipolarCourse.com, a one-stop source of information on how to cope and deal with bipolar disorder. Sign up for one of his FREE Mini Courses on bipolar by visiting FreeBipolarCourse.com

Back to Article List

This Week's Bipolar News

Artist faces her demons in gallery show
The North Bay Nugget
Michelle LaRiviere is a survivor, but she has not escaped unscarred. She has demons and faces them daily. But now the road to recovery looks bright. The petite, raven-haired woman, who was diagnosed with affective bipolar disorder last summer, poured her heart and fears out to strangers...

Atypical antipsychotics in bipolar disorder: the treatment of mania
Adv Psychiatric Treat
He has had a career-long interest in psychopharmacology and in bipolar disorder, and has authored two editions of Use of Drugs in Psychiatry published by ...

In a sense, everyone is bipolar to some extent, doctor says
Hattiesburg American
I was having a "down day" and he said he thought I must be bipolar. He was just picking at me but I got to thinking about it and I do have up days and down ...

Click here for all Bipolar News.

Featured Article:

The Three Worst Things That Bipolar Disorder Causes - Part 1

Anyone who has bipolar disorder would agree that there are many bad things that the disorder causes for them; such as: having to take medication every day for the rest of their lives, having to change their whole lifestyle to accommodate the disorder, having to go see doctors and therapists and psychiatrists, etc.

However, the three worst things that bipolar disorder causes are:

1. Distortion of the truth
2. Suicidal and homicidal intentions
3. Destruction of families
   

Click here to read the entire aritcle

Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

Copyright 2004-2008, BipolarCentral.com