What is seen in the younger population is they have continuous illness, but on a daily basis, they can be both high and low. So they may spend four hours of the day high and giddy and silly, and it's very infectious and amusing. However, in the next four hours they are morose, gloomy, not wanting to be with friends and thinking of hurting themselves. There may be these very rapid cycles shifting from extreme high to extreme low on a daily basis, day in and day out, year after year.
And in children, the highs manifests a little differently than adults. So what doctors are looking for in children is being super happy, as if it were Christmas morning, and then being severely depressed, as if someone had died, except it's the average day in school.
What are some of the risk factors for bipolar disorder?
The biggest factor is genetic. Bipolar symptoms also can occur with use of certain prescription medications such as steroids, with some illicit drugs such as cocaine and with various neurological issues such as stroke, tumors and trauma.
What are some of the warning signs in teenagers?
What families may notice is an exaggeration of all the stereotypes of what people say teenagers do. So many people think of teenagers as being irresponsible and being irritable, but the child with bipolar disorder may suddenly decide, "I'm not going to school. They're not teaching me anything. I'm going to be President of the United States anyway, why do I have to go to school?" They have very grandiose behaviors that are out of keeping with reality.
They can also get very hypersexual. Many people think of adolescents getting very interested in the opposite sex, but bipolar adolescents will feel an urgent need to have multiple partners. They'll also begin using very sexual language in inappropriate places and times.
Are teenagers with bipolar disorder more likely to have drug and alcohol problems?
