bipolar in kids

[daireen]

Just been sent a link to an American documentary on the massive rise of diagnosis of bipolar in kids. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/view/ It is a couple of years old, but I'd not seen it before.

I'm not sure if it is the same trend in the UK, I've not come across anybody nor seen any data, have any of you

The take of the programme seems to be that it was linked to one study that felt that many kids with other conditions (eg ADHD) were biopolar, and this overturned previous practice where it was mainly adults being diagnosed. But the main thrust of the programme was the potential overuse of untested medication.

DS has a diagnosis of Frontal Lobe syndrome and Autistic Tendencies with ADHD as a side order! He's medicated for the ADHD with Atomoxotine 60mg daily and Rispiridone 1mg daily for very violent behaviour, he became very dangerous to live with and this was our only option other than residential school, he also says he feels better for taking it, doesn't feel so angry all the time.

WhenI brought this up with DS1's phychiatrist a couple of yrs ago as I felt, and still do feel, that DS1 suffers with Bipolar. He dismissed me completely and said that any research I had done would be based on American Studies and were therefore to be taken with a pinch of salt, this was despite the fact that there is a history of Bipolar in my family, more specifically my father, and bipolar is known to be hereditary, especially with males.

As I have no chance of winning this battle at the moment and DS is getting good support all round I've decided to leave it for now and if necessary raise it again in the future when DS is older.

Not looked at the link, sorry, very late and neeeeed sleep!!

It is also a concern of mine,jjwmummy. My DD's father is bi polar and so is his 16 year old DD (they are American and live in the U.S). His mother was also. My DD is so up and down. Her mood goes from manic to low at the flip of a switch. She is 12 and still going through the diagnosis process for Aspergers and I keep being told she's complex. When I mentioned about her half sister having also been diagnosed the response was "that's young"! It is something I know that I'm going to have to keep an eye on in the future.

I'm not sure what to think really. On the one hand, I think that fixing firm labels to young children is problematic, it might be better to wait to see how they develop before deciding what condition they have especially as some overlap. But this doesn't work as education and support, which is supposed to be based on need, usually responds to diagnosis not need. My child has ASD, but although was clearly struggling in some areas, it took the diagnosis before the school started to respond.

In relation to bipolar, as this condition is biological (as far as i know) I would expect it to be present since birth. In which case it would be logical to be able to diagnose it in childhood. The fact that there are cultural differences in diagnosis, some places willing to diagnose children and others not, brings into question as to how the clinical indicators are being interpreted.