ADHD And Bipolar Disorder: The Danger Of Wrong Diagnosis

When making a diagnosis doctors may sometimes misdiagnose bipolar disorder for depression. What is even more interesting is that some doctors have actually got ADHD and bipolar disorder mixed up. It sounds like malpractice but bipolar is a very hard disorder to diagnose. The disorder has the qualities or symptoms of both ADHD and depression.

The bipolar sufferer will have cycles where one day there are extremely happy and hyperactive and the next day the same person will be depressed and not want to do anything. If the patient comes in on a down cycle and the doctor does not know about the up, they will be diagnosed as depressed. If the opposite is true and the patient goes to see the doctor when they are on their up cycle and they do not know about the down, they will be diagnosed with ADHD.

Danger In Misdiagnosis

Both misdiagnoses are dangerous if treatment is started for either. The medication for each may treat the cycle it is targeted for but when the other manifestation surfaces it can have serious consequences for the patient. The medication for depression can increase the manic or hyper cycle to a point it becomes impossible for the patient to control.

If the opposite is true, the ADHD medicine may push the depressed side of the cycle out of control and cause a deeper more traumatic depression. Bipolar disorder needs to be treated with both medicine for the disorder and with a mood stabilizer. Without this combination the ADHD or the depression medicine will not work.

Similar Symptoms

The symptoms of both ADHD and bipolar disorder are similar. The behavior may look the same but the reasons of the behavior may be different. For example if a child breaks something and has ADHD it is because he or she is playing to carelessly and the item is broke. If the child has bipolar disorder the toy or object may be broken because of anger or frustration.

They may even try to break another object because they are angry they broke the first one. If a temper tantrum erupts with an ADHD child it is because they are over stimulated by visual or physical stimuli. The bipolar disorder child will react to actions and words. If they are scolded or told they cannot do something they will react with anger and even may act out in violence.

These symptoms are the same only when the mania stage of bipolar is visible. This is when the patient is most active and exhibits all the symptoms of ADHD. They will be hyperactive and unable to pay attention to too many things at one time.

Depression Phase

When the mania stage disappears the patient will plunge into a depression that has no boundaries. They will seem listless and sad. Here the doctor would diagnose the depression side and the cycle of misdiagnose would continue. If you recognize these symptoms in yourself or a loved one, contact your health professional immediately. Tell them about both symptoms of each cycle. The longer you delay, the longer you are taking away from the quality of life.