Very young children treated with normally prescribed amounts of the psychoactive medication lithium will likely experience adverse side effects during the first weeks of treatment. They found that 60 percent of children experienced one or more side effects during the first two weeks of lithium therapy. There are a lot of side effects in children that just can't be ignored. Children with bipolar disorder, conduct disorder and extreme aggressive behavior have been shown to improve with lithium treatment, Weller said.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression.
Conduct disorder is characterized by violent, disobedient behavior, such as lying, stealing and being cruel to animals. However, if the choice is between being able to keep children in preschool or kindergarten or having them expelled because of aggression, then it's appropriate to try them on it. Untreated conduct disorders and aggressive behavior can lead to chronic antisocial behavior and substance abuse in adulthood, she added. The group's work was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry . For their study, the researchers reviewed the medical records of 20 children under 7 who were treated with lithium in the children's inpatient psychiatric unit at Ohio State University Medical Center.