Bipolar Disorder in Children

Most children have moods that come and go. Feelings of elation or sadness are typically normal reactions to daily events, stress, or hormones. The moods of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, however, can strongly interfere with interactions and normal functioning. I've been working for a behavioral specialist for the past year, offering therapeutic support for children with bipolar disorder. It is important that this disorder is recognized and understood in children.

Bipolar disorder is characterized as a mood disorder. Individuals with mood disorders have mood problems that tend to last for extended periods of time. Bipolar disorder has been detected in children as young as age 6, though symptoms of bipolar disorder can emerge as early as infancy.

Symptoms of bipolar disorder involve changes in mood and energy, and a shifting between extreme moods. Individuals with this disorder experience both the lows of depression and the highs of mania.

Depression can be marked as a state of irritability or intense sadness accompanied by low energy. Symptoms of depression in adolescents can include persistent crying spells, extreme sadness, sleeping too much, agitation, withdrawal from favored activities, inability to concentrate, low energy, change in appetite or thoughts of death and suicide.

Mania is placed on the opposite end of the mood spectrum. It is characterized by persistent states of extreme elation or agitation accompanied by high energy. In adolescents symptoms of mania include, elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, racing speech, grandiose delusions, excessive involvement in risky activities, increased physical and mental activities, poor judgment, and hallucinations.