4 Troubled Teens Blog

A new study found that European doctors are less likely to diagnose children with bipolar disorder than are their American counterparts. About one-fourth of European children with the disorder have delays in their medical diagnosis of up to three and a half years.

• Professor Immaculada Canales and her colleagues found that part of the problem is the difficulty in analyzing the symptoms of bipolar disorder in children.
• Symptoms can include irritability, behavioral disorders, lack of attention, hyperactivity, and depression.
• These symptoms are similar to other pediatric mental disorders.
• Children with bipolar disorder are less likely to show classic bipolar symptoms like euphoria and expansiveness that adult patients do.

Some studies have shown that 60 percent of adults with bipolar disorder had symptoms of the disorder before age 20.

Labels: bipolar

Posted By: Aspen/CRC