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Bipolar disorder in kids

Worried about bipolar disorder in kids?

Protect your child with expert online screening. Imagine if your child had asthma or diabetes. You would get a reliable diagnosis and seek out the best professional care!

Unfortunately it is much more difficult to diagnose a bipolar child - no simple blood test or brain scan is available yet. However, bipolar disorder and children is an issue of huge community concern.

The bipolar child is complex and may appear to be like any other kid with "issues":

1. Angry

2. Depressed

3. Anxious

4. Obsessive

5. A poor sleeper

6. Stressed

7. Language or learning problems

8. Aches and pains.

These are all clues or signposts, but even the presence of every one of the above may not mean your child is bipolar!

The only way to be sure of diagnosis is to consult a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist.

I have to "come out" at this point and let you all know something about me - not only am I a climate change skeptic (yes, I know, boo hiss), even worse I am skeptical about young children having bipolar disorder. This is a matter of personal opinion and it is also the reason why there is not more information about bipolar disorder in kids on my Bipolar-Lives website.

My reasons:

1. A two thousand year history of manic-depressive illness being understood as manifesting in the late teens/early twenties.

2. The unlikelihood that the dramtic recent increase in diagnosis is plausible as a matter of simple math and common sense (ok, sure I accept that growing awareness can cause sudden spikes in diagnosis as the medical profession improves its understanding of a particular illness - but an increase of 4,000 percent?)

3. The exposure of childhood bipolar "expert" Dr Joseph Biederman as acting in collusion with a drug company for financial gain based on phoney research.

4. The recent decision by the American Psychiatric Association that as NO EVIDENCE exists to justify bipolar disorder in children who don’t meet the criteria for adults, the next edition of the DSM will instead include a new category, called “temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria,” (TDD) for children who are aggressive and irritable.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND - I am NOT saying there is no such thing as bipolar disorder in kids - just that it is VERY RARE!

Regardless of whether the problem is bipolar disorder, TDD, ADHD, or something else, these tools can be used effectively for kids as well as adults:
The Bipolar Toolkit: Taking Charge of Your Own Recovery.

Private, reliable online screening

In children, other conditions such as ADHD can look a lot like bipolar. In fact, some children may have both.

Discover more about bipolar vs ADHD.

Although the ideal is a personal consulation with a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, it is possible to get private and reliable online screening as a useful first step.

The Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation (JBRF) offer parents, physicians, and other mental health professionals a concise screening inventory developed by Demitri Papolos, M.D.

Dr Papolos is the co-author of the highly acclaimed book, "The Bipolar Child".

According to Dr Papolos and the JBRF:

"The Child Bipolar Questionnaire (CBQ) is a reliable and sensitive diagnostic indicator for childhood-onset bipolar disorder . . . "

"The Child Bipolar Questionnaire is available free of charge to all. Once completed, the answers to the questions can be printed out and taken to the diagnosing or treating professional."

Fee based online scoring

The JBRF also provide an automatic scoring report of the test for bipolar disorder in kids, available online for a fee: Test for bipolar disorder and children.

Return from Bipolar Disorder in Kids to Bipolar Lives

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