Bipolar illness, also called manic depression, is a chronic and serious mood disorder that affects men and women equally. Medications such as lithium are used to control the sharp swings between manic highs and depressive lows which, if untreated, can lead to suicide.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association, manic episodes must last at least four days. Three symptoms must be present including grandiosity, irritability, sharply decreased need for sleep (feeling rested after three hours, for example), hypersexuality, racing thoughts or extreme distractibility.
Depressive episodes must last two weeks and reflect a change in how the person was functioning. Five symptoms must be present. They include irritability, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, insomnia, significant unintended weight loss or gain, and suicidal thoughts.
Many other psychiatric and physical illnesses can mimic bipolar illness in children and should be considered before a diagnosis is made, experts say. They include:
• depression
• conduct disorder
• oppositional defiant disorder
• generalized anxiety disorder
• intermittent explosive disorder
• panic disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
• Tourette's syndrome
• metabolic disorders including overactive thyroid
• brain tumor or brain damage
• temporal lobe epilepsy
• HIV
Sources: DSM-IV, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
-- Sandra G. Boodman
