It is, I hope, an empowering guide to growing and developing despite the challenge of mood swings and other difficult symptoms. As the parent of a bipolar teenager, I can honestly say this is the book I wish I could have found many years ago. I hope it will give other families the help and hope they and their children deserve. Until recently, bipolar disorders were almost never diagnosed in children and rarely recognized in adolescents, even though between 20 and 40 percent of the two million or more adults diagnosed with bipolar disorders in the United States experienced the onset of illness in their teen years or before. As many as a million children in the US alone may have childhood-onset bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorders are different in children than in adults.
There are some diagnostic criteria unique to children. Some reckless behavior is limited by being a child and being under adult control. Families and communities pay a heavy toll when this disorder is not recognized and treated. Suicide is a possible outcome, as are school failure, limited job prospects, legal difficulties, and hospitalizations. Understanding and recognizing the differences in the illness for children and adolescents is key for concerned parents and professionals.