Bipolar disorder or manic-depression is a serious but
treatable illness marked by extreme changes in mood, energy, and behavior. Once
thought to be rare in early childhood, bipolar disorder is now recognized and
treated in young children. Symptoms may be present from infancy or early
childhood (early-onset), or emerge in adolescence or young adulthood.
The illness looks different in children from the way it appears in teens and
adults. Children usually have an ongoing, continuous mixture of mania (extreme
high) and depression, with rapid, severe, cycling between moods and few clear
periods of wellness between episodes. Symptoms may include
• chronic irritability
• depression
• rapidly changing moods lasting a few hours to a few days
• explosive, lengthy, and often destructive rages
• defiance of authority
• hyperactivity, agitation, and distractibility
In adolescents, bipolar disorder more closely resembles the illness in adults,
with periods of mania, including elevated mood, decreased need for sleep,
increased rapid talking, and unrealistic positive self image and periods of
depression with persistent sadness, crying, loss of enjoyment in favorite
activities, thoughts of death or suicide, and major change in eating or
sleeping.
Bipolar disorder is the result of a biochemical imbalance in the brain that
alters a person's moods. Having a birthparent or sibling with the illness
increases the risk for a child. Although there is no known cure, it can be
effectively treated with medication, psychotherapy, and parenting techniques.
With early intervention and appropriate treatment, many children achieve
significant improvement and learn how to manage their symptoms as they grow
older.