Approximately fifty percent of these had a psychiatric diagnosis for two years or more. Mood disorders are the most common psychiatric illnesses associated with increased suicidality among adolescents. Alcohol or drug use and aggressive or disruptive behaviors are also major risk factors for suicide in youth. There is also an increased risk of suicide during a first episode of a mood disorder. Thus, a good psychiatric evaluation of adolescents with bipolar disorder should routinely include assessment of suicide potential.
Suicide occurs in ten to fifteen percent of all persons with a bipolar disorder.
Studies by Strober et al. Brent et al. Substance abuse further increased mortality rates. Because of the mistaken societal belief that children do not attempt suicide, it is not unusual for the suicidal behaviors of children who have attempted suicide to be unrecognized or assumed to be accidental. Once this disorder is accurately diagnosed, youth with bipolar disorder can be effectively treated.