This is a question posed a lot recently on talk shows, on health blogs and in newspapers across the country. Why?
Because, health commentators say, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder has gone through the roof in the last ten years, especially in young people.
In fact, children with bipolar disorder seem to be everywhere. Researchers have found that the increase in a bipolar disorder is 40 times greater now than it was in the mid 1990s.
The study, lead by Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, finds that there is probably not an actual increase in the amount of children with bipolar disorder. Rather, there was an under-diagnosis in the past or there is a major over-diagnosis now.
But which is it?
Researchers don't know. Some in the field believe that bipolar disorder has been under-diagnosed and like many other conditions, when experts know more, they can diagnose more. Others claim that bipolar disorder is an easy way to dot i's and cross t's, excuses irresponsible behavior, and also fills millions of money-making prescriptions that people don't need and can actually be dangerous.
Many doctors don't even believe it possible to diagnose a young child as bipolar.
Dr John March, of Duke University is not a fan of medicating all these "bipolar" kids. He considers it "one big experiment" on America's children and can lead to dangerous side effects.
It can also lead to labeling that tells a child they can't amount to too much because they are bipolar and need to accept limitations and on the same vein, can allow people to think that they are not accountable for their actions and behaviors because they have a medical 'excuse' for acting how they do.
One thing we know for sure is that bipolar disorder is real and it's a serious condition. According to EmpowHer's encyclopedia, bipolar disorder is characterized by "extreme swings in mood, energy, and ability to function. The mood changes of bipolar disorder are more dramatic than normal ups and downs. They can hurt relationships and cause poor job or school performance. Bipolar disorder can be treated; contact your doctor if you think you may have this condition.
The two extremes of the illness are mania (when energy peaks, mood may be overly euphoric or irritable) and depression (when lethargy takes over, mood may be very blue). Severe episodes of mania or depression may sometimes be associated with psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorders of thought."
Treatment is varied - from medications to talk therapy:
"The following medications may be used to treat bipolar disorder (many patients are treated with a combination of two or more of these medications):
◦Lithium—a mood stabilizer, often used as initial treatment (helps prevent manic and depressive episodes from returning)
◦Valproate (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), lamotrigine (Lamictal), topiramate (Topamax)—antiseizure medications, also used as mood stabilizers instead or in combination with lithium
◦Benzodiazepines (clonazepam [Klonopin] or lorazepam [Ativan]) can be used to treat agitation or insomnia
◦Zolpidem (Ambien)—used to treat insomnia
◦Antidepressants (serotonin reuptake inhibitors or bupropion [Wellbutrin])—used to treat depression
◦Antipsychotic medications—used for acute manic or mixed episodes and maintenance treatment
■Classic antipsychotic medications (eg, haloperidol [Haldol]) are not often used because of risks of tardive dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements).
■Atypical antipsychotic medications (eg, risperidone, olanzapine, aripiprazole, ziprasidone, and quetiapine) are more effective with less risk of tardive dyskinesia
Treatment may need to be continued for prolonged periods or indefinitely, depending on the pattern of the illness, to prevent significant mood swings."
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are more than 5.5 million in the United States with bipolar disorder, which is more than 2.5 percent of the population. A fairly staggering statistic - for every fifty people, more than one has bipolar disorder.
Experts are currently examining signs of bipolar disorder in children as young as preschool age (3 to 5 years old).
Tell Us
How do you feel about the surge in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, especially in children? Do you feel it shows more education and understanding of the condition or do you think it's diagnosis overkill, and a psychiatric "trend" as some critics have said?
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Add a Comment27 Comments
Referring to the anonymous person commenting, I agree in principle that too many drugs are used for everything. But having tried for many years to help my daughter without any medication whatsoever, I realised as she spiralled into appalling hallucinations, voices in her head telling she was nothing and had no right to live as well as feeling things crawling on her skin, that support and therapy was not going to work. Having brought up 3 other teenagers, I was well aware that this was not normal teenage angst and tantrums. My pain as her mother, watching her in agony, was only increased as I realised that for the first time, I could not put this right for her by myself. Medication is not the only answer, then or now and she has intense therapy 3 times a week in hospital as well as huge support from her family and friends. I wonder if you have experienced the same and if so, what did you do differently to deal with severe psychosis?!
December 21, 2009 - 7:37amThis Comment
Great discussion topic. I was diagnosed with bipolar 11 years ago and hospitalized for bipolar mania. I was given this label, told to take medication, spent a few days in the hospital and sent on my way. I was never encouraged to become a student of the nature of bipolar disorder, never told that medicine had potentially fatal side affects, never encoraged to examime the triggering events to past episodes which might lead to future episodes. In fact, I told them my 31 year old brother died a year earlier which obviously caused me deep greif and my spiraling out of control life. The doctors did not care.... I felt like a freak, all alone and I was scared to death and tramatized by the hospitalization.
I don't know if too many people are being diagnosed or not. I do know that most people believe their is no hope for a cure, that medicine is the only answer and most people including people who have been treated for bipolar over the course of many years have never been taught the basics for living with bipolar disorder successfully.
Educating the patients would be a great way to have more possitive affective results with medication usage. For instance, charting ones mood each day along with medications taken, people around and foods... of course their is more too, will provide a much needed picture for the doctor. In a sense what a patient is doing is providing daily test results and observations for both doctors, therapists and "self."
I take medication for my bipolar and have been able to reduce them by 50% after 10 years. I did this under the observation of a doctor. At one point I didn't like feeling broken by taking the meds and stopped. I was hospitalized shortly their after. This occurred because it is dangerous to stop many medications abruptly. I reduced the meds because I wanted to reduce long term side effects to my body and mind.
I apologize if I got of track with my reply. It is late and time for me to log off.
Good Night!
David Mariant
December 21, 2009 - 12:51amThis Comment
There is a diagnosis, prescription, and quick fix to EVERYTHING now. Do you have irritability at night? No need to decrease your caffeine intake or exercise the energy off, just take Mirapex. Do you have a teenager that is acting like you did when you were that age, oh well its just oppositional defiance disorder!There really is a label and a drug for just about any difficulty that one might encounter in their day to day living. We should not be so willing to financially bless the pharmaceutical companies.
December 17, 2009 - 11:30amThis Comment
I agree that it's premature and possibly damaging to diagnose young children with bipolar especially as it often doesn't manifest itself until the teen years. But having had a daughter who has been 'challenging' from birth and seen her dreadful struggle to understand her emotions and behaviour, I think she would have preferred some answers and a 'label' to help her before now. She is 16 and was diagnosed, finally, with bipolar last week. She spent her childhood battling with herself and everyone around her which, as she started puberty (around 11 years old) turned into extreme highs (very risky behaviour) and lows (4 attemps at suicide). This concluded last year with severe psychosis and she spent 4 months in a psychiatric unit.
October 19, 2009 - 9:29pmShe chose to insist on some answers last week and although very sad to have this 'labelled' condition which is not going to go away, she is relieved to have an explanation of what is happening to her. She now feels she can try to move on with her life and this illness and is not, simply, going mad as she puts it!
This Comment
Dear Buddha, I empathize with your daughter completely, but there is nothing wrong with her medically. Manic Depression is a malady of the soul, a soul that yearns for peace and love, but finds itself incapable due to the restraints of society, and the inability of others to fully understand what she is going through. Believing you are deficient, recieving a label from Society, as though you were a rotten apple, is never good for a person's quest to truly understand who they really are. And the truth is, if you want to be gods in Heaven with the Lord of the Universe, you can be, and it starts with a simple choice. Once that choice is made, their is a framework for decision making that structures reality into something that starts to make sense to the individual. WIthout this structure in place, it is impossible to progress spiritually. The medication does nothing but dumb down the true potential of the mind. And once all those kids who are being put on drugs are weaned off them through an amazing new supplement called True Hope, at EMPOWER.COM, their true potential will only begin to be grasped. The human mind is capable of infinite progression. The only limits that we have are the ones that we have come to believe about ourselves because of what society has told us about who we are and what we can be.
October 15, 2010 - 4:29amPlease direct your daughter to my posts here at empowHer. Or give her my email address and phone number and tell her I'd love to show her how to overcome all of her fears and limitations, and become one with love in the process. My email address is [email protected]
my phone number is 530-575-7650
I understand she may be a bit intimidated or afraid to call me, and so I'd be happy to talk to you for a while and offer solutions. If she has a cell phone, post it in a reply, and I'll give her a call sometime and establish a friendship with her. My earnest desire is to see her true beauty come out. God bless you.
Christopher Moyer
The Bipolar Man
This Comment
Buddha2310,
Thank you so much for writing about you and your daughter's experience. She is so fortunate to have a mom who has worked to find answers and who now can help her with this condition.
This morning on Good Morning America, I saw an interview with Glenn Close and her sister, Jessie. Her sister was diagnosed as being bipolar 9 years ago at age 47 -- and all of a sudden, many things about her childhood and her personality made sense. When she was young, they just called her a "wild child," because there wasn't enough information and issues like these weren't brought to the forefront at that time. She is a writer, and worried about the effect meds would have on her. But through work with her psychiatrist and honest feedback about how she was feeling, she is doing well. And when asked about whether the medicines caused side effects, she talked about fatigue and weight gain, but said she would never go back, that the side effects were more than worth the ability to have a functioning mind.
She and Glenn Close are two of the real people who are appearing in a series of public service announcements about mental health. Here's a link to their story and a video of the PSA itself:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/glenn-close-sister-jessie-close-tackle-mental-illness/story?id=8871476
Buddha, your daughter faces a lot of challenges now, I know. But you are right in believing that having a "labeled" condition -- and the answers that come with it -- are so necessary to being able to move forward. Best of health to you both. And please update us in the future!
October 21, 2009 - 9:15amThis Comment
This is so interesting. And, like the "surges" in the diagnosing of autism and ADD, we always wonder whether something environmental is going on, or whether our tools for diagnosis are getting better.
I hope it's the latter. But I have to admit that the thought of diagnosing very young children and medicating them makes me uncomfortable. Will it help them manage their symptoms from a young age, and therefore enable them to learn more and progress further? Or will it, as the doctor above says, be an automatic signal to the child (or those around the child) that there is something "wrong" with them?
Tough questions. I wonder if bipolar adults can think back and remember how they felt as children, either diagnosed or undiagnosed, and weigh in with their thoughts here?
September 18, 2009 - 5:19pmThis Comment