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Originally Posted by Naynay99
Hey. Great question.
About 10 years ago it seemed like all my HS kids with any behavior and impulse problems were being dx as bipolar. For a little while there it semed like doctors were disgnosising kids as bipolar in record numbers. I don't work with HS age kids anymore but it seems as if drs are not so quick to put that label on a kid anymore. Which I fully support. We had 15 year olds on abilfy and other APs; I know some kids may need meds but it shouldn't be the first line of defense! And some of what has been identified as childhood bipolar symptoms- rages, tantrums, etc looks very different from adult bp. Is it really even the same disorder? Idk.
I would be very hesistant to put a kid with a still developing brain on a psychotropic medication unless all other avenues have been tried. And let's say they do have some bipolar looking disorder- what if they grow out of it, what if they never have another hypo/manic or depressive episode in their lifetime- they could be dx bipolar and put on heavy duty medications with dangerous side effects for life when they may not actually need them long term. And the stigma attached to such a disorder is huge- what's the rush to dx them? Just my opinion.
I did read about that mood dysregulation disorder the dsm 5 came up with. Sounds like a good idea to me as an alternative to slapping the bipolar label on them too soon. Anyway good topic to think over.
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Yes, I agree. It
is very concerning if we inappropriately Dx a child with BP when they're not actually BP. And it
is scary that children are being put on APs, especially since their brains are still developing, as you mentioned.
One thing I wonder... what if we medicate a child who we think has BP and the child doesn't have BP? Could those meds *cause* BP because of what they might do to the brain structure? Or at least cause some sort of permanent chemical imbalance? IDK. Just a random thought of mine.
As I brought up with scatterbrained, do you think it might be worthwhile to give children mental illness education? Again, we don't have to teach these children what all the diagnoses are. We just want them to be able to identify depression, abnormal anxiety, paranoia, and things like that.
And indeed, the mood dysregulation disorder is a good label. I think ADHD and BP overlap a lot and that it is possible for a child to have ADHD but "display" BP symptoms. And also, now that I think of it, I suppose childhood trauma could also result in the appearance of a mood disorder too.