Bipolar Disorder: Treatment in Children Scary or Challenging Ordeal?
Bipolar disorder is a serious illness of the brain that is treatable and is also known by the term manic-depression. Its symptoms may include extreme changes in energy, thinking, behavior and mood or recurrent episodes of depression, mania.
These symptoms may occur during the infancy period or early childhood, and or may come out rapidly in the stage of adolescence or adulthood.
The said illness can now be diagnosed and treated in young children, but despite of the many studies conducted, some professionals still say that the cause or causes of bipolar disorder are elusive and a truly effective cure is yet to be discovered. However, the said disorder can be managed through numerous medications and other therapies.
Though the exact bipolar causing agents are not determined yet, some say that there is a scientific proof that points to a chemical imbalance in the brain as the culprit. As for the reason of such disparity, there are some viable theories which points out to a combination of environmental and heredity triggers.
Some data shows that the discrepancy in the chemical messengers among the nerve cells starting at the brain or the so-called neurotransmitters that happen in individuals who have bipolar disorder. In most cases patients of such illness may have a genetic nature for the disorder. On the other hand, not every person who is related to a person who has a bipolar disorder may develop the illness.
Drug misuse and or nerve-racking or upsetting events may be some of the factors that may cause it. Individuals with such disorder often don’t know how sick they are when having more than just a mood swing and how much their condition is affecting their lives and even the lives of the people within their family.
Should a member of one’s family show signs of a bipolar disorder?
advice that person to consult the help of a psychiatrist or any professional help that may assist him or her to deal with it.
A bipolar disorder is usually characterized by the alternating pattern of emotional highs and lows and from which the intensities may vary. The so-called manic symptom includes increased talking either too much or too fast, tends to change topics too quickly or cannot be interrupted while talking.
- Increased sexual thoughts, feelings, or behavior; use of explicit sexual language or Hyper-sexuality may also occur.
- The child may also have the ability to go with very little sleep or no sleep for days.
- Some patient show overly-inflated self-esteem;
- or the display of grandiosity while some tend to be somewhat like distracted, the attention moves constantly from one thing to the other.
- Others experience increased goal-directed activity or physical agitation.
Other symptoms that characterize the said disorder are the depressive ones that include sudden lack of interest in the activities once enjoyed, trouble with sleeping or getting too much sleep, feelings of unimportance or unsuitable guilt, significant change of mood and or frequent thoughts of death or even suicidal tendencies.
Should the disorder remain untreated some complications may rise such as Anxiety Disorder or even Psychosis, where in the personality of a person may be disorganized and has difficulty getting in touch with reality.
It may also result to destructive effects on relationships as it may be with financial problems resulting from overspending in the event of a manic episode up to nearly complete seclusion and abandonment in the depressive stage.
Bipolar disorder in teenagers can be effectively treated. Treatments usually start on the education of the patient and the family about the disease, prevention of the episodes and psychotherapy.
Medications on the other hand help prevent episodes. Medications such as mood stabilizers like lithium and valporic acid often lessens the severity of manic episodes and may help prevent depression.
Meanwhile, psychotherapy aids the patients in understanding what he or she is going through, understand himself or herself, cope up with the stresses, improve relationships and rebuild self-esteem.
Some diagnoses that mask or sometimes occur along with bipolar disorder include:
- depression.
- conduct disorder (C.D.).
- oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD),ADHD, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and so much more.
- There is a great possibility that bipolar disorder may be misdiagnosed with these other disorders.
Even if a child’s behavior is unquestionably not normal, correct diagnosis remains challenging. The proper treatment for the Bipolar Disorder clears up the bothersome symptoms thought to indicate another diagnosis.
The analysis of Bipolar Disorder in children and teens is intricate and involves careful judgment and or observation. A careful assessment by a child and adolescent psychiatrist makes out Bipolar Disorder and the start of the treatment.
