Bipolar disorders affect 1-2% of the population; 0.4-1.2% in children and adolescents. Prevalence increases after puberty.
40% of the children and adolescents in acute psychiatric hospitals suffer from bipolar disorder.
Early diagnosis and treatment is important in order to avoid more serious effects.
Extremely aggressive behavior may be associated with adolescent bipolar disorder, and is often considered the teen’s most impairing symptom.
The adolescent may be unable to make the connection between mood swings and a possible disorder. It has been shown that parents can usually more accurately describe the child’s behavior than the child him or herself, so is helpful to monitor your adolescent’s moods in order to report them accurately to your psychiatrist and psychologist.
- Adolescents suffering from Bipolar Disorder may
experience manic, hypomanic, or depressed symptoms for extended periods
of time, or symptoms may cycle rapidly back and forth, sometimes even many
times during a day. Adults tend to have slower cycling of moods.
An adolescent may enjoy the feelings of elation that accompany mania or hypomania, therefore reporting only the feelings related to depression.
Incorrect diagnoses that result in inappropriate medications can precipitate a manic episode or aggression in adolescents.
Patients experiencing a manic episode often have little or no inhibitions, can be cruel to others, seem to enjoy manipulating others’ self-esteem, and blame everyone but themselves for the trouble they cause.
Symptoms that often precede and predict a full-blown manic episode are
Studies among adult patients have shown that even when medication-compliant, only 40% of the patients were relapse-free after 5 years.
There have been no studies that have shown that hospitalization improves the outcome for adolescents or adults suffering from bipolar disorder.
The disorder is considered by many to be chronic and life-long, therefore, the diagnosis should be made with great care to avoid the effects of mislabeling.
Studies have shown that 39-60% of teens who are diagnosed bipolar abuse substances, which greatly complicates treatment.
25% of teens with manic symptoms have seriously considered suicide. 18% of adults with bipolar disorders eventually end their own lives.
50% of persons with Bipolar Disorder are under the age of 18 (as mentioned earlier, BPD was once thought to be an adult disorder).
A supportive environment will help suppress appearance of Bipolar Disorder.
Periods of mania are more frequent in youth who suffer from Bipolar Disorder. Periods of depression are more common in the elderly who suffer from Bipolar Disorder.
Assessment tests administered to the general population must not be used to diagnose mood disorders due to the extremely high probability of their providing false positives (inaccurately diagnosising the disorder) among that population. Test results simply indicate whether or not further diagnostic evaluations might be appropriate.
- Patients with Bipolar Disorder often exhibit a notorious lack of insight about their
condition. The adolescent often believes that the manic or hypomanic
symptoms in fact represent who he or she really is and, therefore, deny
that the symptoms indicate disordered functioning at all. Video or tape
recording the adolescent’s behavior during a manic episode may help him
or her understand that it is part of the problem that needs to be
addressed. Creating and maintaining a mood chart may also be useful to
the adolescent and to professional caregivers.
