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Bipolar disorder affects children as well as adults
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A study of 54 people with bipolar disorder found that the illness, long considered an adult affliction, also affects children. The research published in Archives of General Psychology this week said that 44% of those who had manic episodes as children continued having them as adults."Children with mania grow into adults who have mania," said Dr. Barbara Geller of Washington University in St. Louis, who led the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
People with bipolar disorder experience severe mood swings between depression and mania, a state marked by excess energy and restlessness. These episodes, in severe cases, carry a risk of suicide, but between mood swings most people are symptom-free.
Some experts have been skeptical that bipolar disorder exists in children. Yet, increasing numbers of children are diagnosed as bipolar, a phenomenon that has been attributed in part to diagnostic confusion. Certain characteristics of bipolar disorder, such as aggression or irritability, also are symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions. More.
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