But it's not the teen's, the parents' or the world's fault. Teens easily can mask their mental illness with substance abuse and behavioral problems. Or the illness can be misdiagnosed as another youth mental disorder, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I found out that wasn't true. It also estimates 20 percent to 40 percent of depressed children will develop bipolar disorder within five years after depression begins.
Girls are more likely than boys to develop depression.
But boys are more likely to commit suicide than girls. Diagnosing a teen with mental illness is just the midline of that youth's struggle. The illness takes on a special challenge for some teens. It can be terribly isolating. Rebekah Preston ruefully points out that at her former school, they didn't exactly have a club for bipolar students.