General Question about Bipolar Diagnosis

Can anyone please tell me what the diagnosis procedure for Bipolar Disorder is? My daughter's therapist, after their first one hour meeting, said she has a mild form of it (my daughter is a minor). She went through a behavioral checklist to arrive at this. I understand that there are no biological indicators of bipolarity, but isn't it up to a psychiatrist to provide a true diagnosis?

I don't want to minimize my daughter's feelings, but the more I read about the diagnosis on websites, the less reassured I ambout her diagnosis, because they say it can be made by any mental health professional. I welcome anyone else's thoughts and experiences they may be willing to share.

The other thing that irritates me is that the T has not addressed my questions adequately; particularly, as a minor in my care, any diagnosis & its implications need to be discussed with me. She has not done so, and says my daughter needs to give permission to share her hour with me! Yes, my daughter is allowed to have her privacy, of course, but a diagnosis of a minor child is another thing entirely!

Hi,

How old is your daughter? I am 14 and I was just curious because I came to this site trying to find kids my age with this disorder so i could relate. I'm not to sure about the diagnostic test they do but for me it was sum simple test and nothing more. My attitude fits the disscription so i guess i never really questioned it.

About your last paragraph i do believe that sumone should have told you more imformation on this. Bipolar disorder is different on younger people and changes as people become older (as i read). You can PM me if you want more info or about anything else.

There is a computerized questionaire that psychiatrists give to the clients that they suspect have this disorder. Therapists sometimes also use it but I don't know if they consider that an official diagnosis.

What I do know is that the therapist that ran the depression management group before my therapist would have the person from group meet separately with her and they would talk, verbally or by hand do a test. Then if that test came up as putting the person in the bipolar area then she would refer the person on to a psychiatrist to get the official doagnosis by doing a Comprehensive Psychological Evaluation with the psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist sends he computerized test out to be scored and the results come back between 2-4 weeks sometimes longer if the computer scoring place is back logged.

There is also a single sheet 15 question or so test that many psychiatrists use. I have taken it from two different pdocs, both agree that I am bipolar. One told me that this test is about 90% accurate, but I don't know besides what she told me.

There are many variations of bipolar...it simply is not as cut-and-dried as you see in articles about it. If you follow the "Bipolar" link on the "Disorders" page here at PC, you'll find links to several great bipolar sites...definitely check them out.

Good luck...
DJ

I saw it done before, a friend in PH talked to a Psychiatrist then had a testing like thing done with a Psychologist that involved written things and talking etc. Then she got medicine the first week maybe 25MG 2nd week 100MG 3rd week 150MG 4th week 200MG last week 300MG. So they could find out what type, how severe, when, how, for her diagnosis. She also had to do fear charts and journal notes. Hope this helps you! Sarah

diagnosing mental illness is as much an art as a science IMHO.
Keep asking questiions and educating yourself and communicating with your kid.

Find out what your parental rights are and find a therapist who will respect them...... good luck.

Yea thats the one the depression management therapist would give to those in the group who she suspected were Bipolar. and i it came out positive she wold refer them to a psychiatrist to do it officially and possible medication needs.

Sorry, but with the HIPPA laws that went into effect, depending on how old your daughter is.... she might have to give permission for the therapist to speak with you. And she can specify exactly what can, and cannot be told to you.

Bipolar is a hard one to diagnose I wouldn't trust a therapist's diagnosis. Take her to a psychiastrist because it could be any number of things that look like Bipolar but need someone trained that can tell the difference. You can ask around to find a psychiatrist that specializes in Bipolar, that is what I did.

Good luck.