Most practitioners will also include suggestions for therapy, medications, or schooling based on what was learned. Sometimes you'll see notes in the report about specific manic, hypomanic, mixed, or depressive episodes. Sometimes there will be notes on several episodes. Some parents interviewed noted that they were never given a copy of the diagnostic report. This is not an acceptable practice.
Bipolar disorder is a chronic medical condition that can be hard to treat.
A good diagnostician knows that a label alone isn't much help. It must be accompanied by information about what should happen next, and what the family can expect in the future. If your diagnosing professional isn't forthcoming with this level of information, move on to someone else who is more committed to working closely with you and your child. Insist on getting copies of any reports, including scores on standardized tests. Other parents said the diagnostic report was hard to read.