Is Your Child Bipolar?
March 27th, 2008
Mood swings are normal especially if teens are under pressure, but mood swings that occur more often than the usual is something that a parent must be concerned about. Do you know that 1 out of 7 Americans have Bipolar disorder? What are the chances that your child is one of the 14.28% who is suffering from this kind of mental state?
Bipolar disorder is a category of mood disorder that is characterized by an onset of conspicuously arduous mood (mania) followed by sudden episodes of total depression or vise versa. Often times, the person with bipolar disorder could even feel a mix of both mania and depression alternating rapidly which is clinically called, mixed episodes.
Some parents mistake bipolar disorder with ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because both illness is characterized by symptoms of the patient acting, thinking or speaking in an abnormally fast pace. If that is the case, how do you determine if your child has bipolar disorder? Kidshealth.org, enumerated the signs of bipolar disorder in two categories – mania and depression:
Symptoms of mania include:
-racing speech and thoughts
-increased energy
-decreased need for sleep
-elevated mood and exaggerated optimism
-increased physical and mental activity
-excessive irritability, aggressive behavior, and impatience
-poor judgment
-reckless behavior, like excessive spending, making rash decisions, and erratic driving
-difficulty concentrating
-inflated sense of self-importance
Symptoms of depression include:
-loss of interest in usual activities
-prolonged sad or irritable mood
-loss of energy or fatigue
-feelings of guilt or worthlessness
-sleeping too much or inability to sleep
-drop in grades and inability to concentrate
-inability to experience pleasure
-appetite loss or overeating
-anger, worry, and anxiety
-thoughts of death or suicide
If these symptoms are present, parents are advised to seek professional help as soon as possible because the state is very difficult. A lot of people with bipolar disorder discover the existence of their problem during adulthood although they don’t necessarily incur it during their childhood. This condition may stay very long and regular stabilizer medication should be taken, some sample drugs used are lithium, sodium valproate, carbamazepine and many others. Doctors are finding alternative ways of controlling sudden onset of manic-depressive attacks.
Mood swings are normal especially if teens are under pressure, but mood swings that occur more often than the usual is something that a parent must be concerned about. Do you know that 1 out of 7 Americans have Bipolar disorder? What are the chances that your child is one of the 14.28% who is suffering from this kind of mental state?
Bipolar disorder is a category of mood disorder that is characterized by an onset of conspicuously arduous mood (mania) followed by sudden episodes of total depression or vise versa. Often times, the person with bipolar disorder could even feel a mix of both mania and depression alternating rapidly which is clinically called, mixed episodes.
Some parents mistake bipolar disorder with ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because both illness is characterized by symptoms of the patient acting, thinking or speaking in an abnormally fast pace. If that is the case, how do you determine if your child has bipolar disorder? Kidshealth.org, enumerated the signs of bipolar disorder in two categories – mania and depression:
Symptoms of mania include:
-racing speech and thoughts
-increased energy
-decreased need for sleep
-elevated mood and exaggerated optimism
-increased physical and mental activity
-excessive irritability, aggressive behavior, and impatience
-poor judgment
-reckless behavior, like excessive spending, making rash decisions, and erratic driving
-difficulty concentrating
-inflated sense of self-importance
Symptoms of depression include:
-loss of interest in usual activities
-prolonged sad or irritable mood
-loss of energy or fatigue
-feelings of guilt or worthlessness
-sleeping too much or inability to sleep
-drop in grades and inability to concentrate
-inability to experience pleasure
-appetite loss or overeating
-anger, worry, and anxiety
-thoughts of death or suicide
If these symptoms are present, parents are advised to seek professional help as soon as possible because the state is very difficult. A lot of people with bipolar disorder discover the existence of their problem during adulthood although they don’t necessarily incur it during their childhood. This condition may stay very long and regular stabilizer medication should be taken, some sample drugs used are lithium, sodium valproate, carbamazepine and many others. Doctors are finding alternative ways of controlling sudden onset of manic-depressive attacks.