How can parents distinguish between a moody teenager and a mood disorder?
It's extremely important for parents to get a professional evaluation if they have any suspicion. If it is not evaluated, and you let it go on, it can devastate a child's life. The consequences for a lack of treatment can be great: suspensions from school, sexually transmitted diseases, depression and even suicide. So it's very important, especially in families with a history of bipolar disorder or depression, for parents to seek professional help at the first sign of any suspicion.
When does bipolar disorder usually first appear?
It's really only been in the last decade that people have started to pay attention to bipolar disorder in young children and early adolescents. So many adults looking back realize that they had the illness, but it may not have been recognized at that time. It's estimated from current studies that maybe as many as half of adults who have bipolar disorder had it before they were 17 years old.
How is the bipolar disorder different in younger children?
In adults, what people are used to thinking is that there will be a discrete episode with a clear onset and a clear offset. You generally have mostly a high or a low, and people function somewhat better between episodes.
