Bipolar disorder is a health condition that is difficult for diagnosing and its symptoms can be easily mistaken with other mental health disorders. It often happens that children suffering from bipolar disorder have certain other mental health problems including such as attention-deficit or hyperactivity disorder, behavioural disorder, anxiety disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, drug abuse disorders, and a number of others.
It is very important to describe the existing symptoms to a mental medical provider as precise as possible in order to avoid possible misperceptions and misunderstandings which can result in delayed diagnoses or wrong diagnoses. This can be a serious problem as children experiencing bipolar disorder need immediate and adequate help.
Once bipolar disorder is diagnosed, the right treatment can be prescribed and a child or adolescent can live productive and full live.
If to compare the symptoms of some medical disorders experienced by different people in the same way, bipolar disorder symptoms are experienced by children in different ways. Typically, children with bipolar disorder experience mood swings that cycle between the states of highs and lows that are known as mania and depression. It is important to note that these cycles in children usually happen much more often than in adult people, and can even occur many times a day.
Mental health providers don’t have the standard in their interpretation of the symptoms experienced by children. Nevertheless, here is the list of commonly reported symptoms of bipolar disorder:
Elevated moods changing into the periods of depressed or irritable moods, periods of high activity and physical agitation, substitutive thinking and speaking very fast, unusual sleeping or a decreased need for sleep, severe mood swings, excessive involvement in activities that brings pleasure, unthoughtful behavior, impulsivity, diversion of the mind; inappropriate sexual activity, hallucinations, suicidal thinking, and a number of other signs.
The above mentioned states are often serious and might last long. They are differ significantly from normal feelings of being happy and excited or sad, which experience people who don’t have bipolar disorder. Such states can interfere with a person’s ability to live a normal life, living in a family, communicate with other people, work or do some other activities. This condition can also make people to turn to alcohol or drugs in order to change the way they feel, which certainly can lead to a bigger problem.