Quote:
Originally Posted by justafriend306
It likely has everything to do with the regional rules than a psychiatrist's unwillingness to do so.
I also am thinking this has much to do with puberty. Bipolar is an illness of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Such an imbalance could similarly be attributed to chemical changes owing to puberty. There are additional external factors that are more prevalent - particularly social - that could be affecting mental health (are social difficulties the cause of emotional problems or is it the other way around?).
My understanding though is that a psychiatrist will treat the symptoms.
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Yes, I agree... it is difficult to differentiate between "hormonal" behavior and bipolar behavior. Which type of chemical imbalance it is quickly becomes confusing.
I know that I had social difficulties when I was younger. Looking back on things, I strongly believe my emotional/mood problems were the cause of my social difficulties. I always did bizarre stuff, and I had very "dark" times where I isolated myself and had suicidal thoughts. I just didn't know how to describe my behavior and feelings to my parents, so we never sought help for me.
So I do think that it is possible to diagnose a kid with BP if the parents keep close watch on their child and the child is able to accurately describe their feelings, but again, as naynay said, sometimes psychiatrists are label happy and just hand out the BP Dx's like candy. That's something we have to be aware of.
But whether or not we hand out the BP label, do you think we
should medicate children? I mean, their brains are developing (as some people here have mentioned). Whether or not they have BP, could medication permanently cause "damage" of some sort?