Is bipolar disorder in children possible?
Although most research on bipolar disorder has focused on adults, historical data suggest that the overall prevalence of bipolar disorder in children is about 1 percent of the population — a rate similar to that of bipolar disorder in adults. The risk of bipolar disorder is higher for children who have a family history of the condition. Bipolar disorder causes severe mood swings, from mania to depression. For children, these mood swings may happen many times a day — causing severe difficulties in daily functioning at home, at school and with peers. Destructive outbursts, school absences, and changes in school performance and relationships with peers are common. During a manic episode, a child who has bipolar disorder may: • Believe that he or she has special abilities or talents • Become agitated • Have a severely negative, petulant mood • Be unusually happy or silly • Have trouble concentrating, quickly bouncing from one activity to the next • Have less need for sleep than usual • Eng
