A Serious Disease – Bipolar Disorder in Children
Bipolar disorder is a serious disease. Its symptoms can keep people from living a normal life, or even result in suicide attempts. Bipolar disorder can begin to manifest in childhood, but some people do start to show symptoms as adolescents and adulthood. Bipolar medication in children is different from bipolar medication in adults.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar disorder is a serious mood disorder affecting more than two million Americans. The illness is characterized by its mood swings, which range from depressive, manic and hypomanic episodes. Hypomanic is a condition similar to mania but less severe, but it can be difficult to diagnose because it can disguise itself as mere happiness. Some people experience mixed episodes. A mixed episode is essentially an episode that presents symptoms of both depression and mania all at once. For example, an individual with bipolar disorder (manic depression) may have all the mania symptoms, but may also be struggling with the black thoughts of depression, during which they exhibit depressive, manic or hypomanic symptoms.
The Difference in Adolescent Bipolar.
Bipolar disorder is defined as a medical condition in which people mood swings out of proportion have, or seemingly unrelated, to things going on in their lives. These swings affect thoughts, feelings, physical health, behavior, and functioning. Bipolar disorder in children and teens does not fit precisely the symptom criteria established for adults. Bipolar symptoms can resemble or co-occur with those of other common childhood-onset mental disorders or can be mistaken with trauma or abuse, drug use or normal emotions and behaviors in children and adolescents.
Be Alert.
A lot depends on the appropriate diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents for an effective treatment. Antidepressant medication to treat depression in a person who has bipolar disorder may induce manic symptoms if it is taken without a mood stabilizer, as some evidence has shown. Also using, using stimulant medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ADHD-like symptoms in a child with bipolar disorder may worsen manic symptoms. While it can be hard to determine which young patients will become manic, there is a greater likelihood among children and adolescents who have a family history of bipolar disorder. A doctor should be consulted immediately, in the diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder if manic symptoms develop or markedly worsen during antidepressant or stimulant use.
Treating Children with medication.
While medications to treat bipolar disorder have been well studied for use in adults, there are few long-term studies that confirm the effectiveness and safety of mood stabilizers in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder. Be sure to use all medications exactly as your child’s doctor has prescribed them. If your child develops intolerable side effects from any medication, call your health professional immediately.
Treatment of ADHD.
Many of the medications for adult with ADHD are in the market today and are used for children and adolescents alike. However, there are several general differences to consider when treating adults. Because childrens organs are usually small compared to those of adults, their liver and kidney function may not be as robust. Thus an adult may need less of a particular medication per pound of body weight because a dose of medication may hang around longer in the adults system than in a child.
Conclusion
Often difficult, bipolar disorder is a complex condition with diagnosis and treatment quite tricky. Taking into consideration the safety of the patient, medication should be closely watched and monitored. Consulting a psychiatrist or doctor to navigate the twists and turns of the bipolar symptoms is a must at all times.