Bipolar Kids: What Can Parents Do?

Bipolar disorder is not confined to adults. Children – pre-schoolers, grade-schoolers, adolescents – are also prone to the disorder. Those extreme mood swings of the disorder can be seen in children at different stages, even from infancy. Manic episodes may be extreme rage at a playmate or a toy. The outbursts may be violent and really destructive instead of the usual excitement. Any parent needs to be on the lookout.

Bipolar disorder in kids may occur together with other disorders like ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). Parents of these kids need to have their children assessed by a psychiatrist or child psychologist as early as possible especially if the temper outbursts and changes and mood swings are very extreme and bordering on violence.

Symptoms in bipolar kids may be different from bipolar disorder symptoms in adults, and why not? Kids are a totally different, misunderstood lot, and those symptoms may be a result of that misunderstanding. The destructive outbursts may cause guilt feelings and cause depression. That depression may be manifested in symptoms like muscle aches or headaches, stomach aches or diarrhea or constipation.

The child may perform poorly in school or would not want to attend his classes. The kid may cry or have a temper tantrum for no apparent reason at all. The kid may be overly sensitive to criticism or even to jokes of friends and classmates. Adolescents may even resort to drug abuse or alcohol abuse due to an inability to make friends or maintain relationships.

The Cycle of Bipolar Disorder in Children

The unpredictability of children is brought to a new light with the onset of bipolar disorder in these kids. Symptoms of bipolar disorder in children vary and sometimes do not conform to established medical standards and studies. In children, the cycles of the occurrences of mania and depression may be very quick in some kids, or prolonged in others. The occurrence may be regular (as in happening at the same hour every day) in some, or irregular in others. Sometimes the symptoms of depression and mania even occur at the same time in some kids.

Parents need to be always on the lookout for possible combination of other disorders with bipolar disorder. It is possible for a bipolar kid to also have ADHD or depression or schizophrenia. Closer and immediate medical attention is needed. With kids, there is no room for mis-diagnosis as this only worsens the problem.

The Difficulty With Bipolar Kids

The problem is, parents oftentimes mistake the disorder for something else, like the normal high energy of kids, their seemingly boundless and endless euphoria, and even their sulking and pouting episodes. They should be more careful in watching for those telltale signs. And the kids can also do a little watching themselves.

Kids are naturally talkative, naturally bursting with energy, but when you can’t sleep and you don’t seem to get tired, that may be a different matter altogether. You may be jumping effortlessly one minute, and the next minute you can’t seem to get out of bed in the mornings. You get irritated at your dad’s simplest remark, you yell at your sister without the slightest provocation, you kick at your pet Labrador just because he licked your shins. You can’t seem to put a finger on why you’re feeling this way one minute and that way the other.

What Parents Can Do

Parents should learn how to deal with bipolar kids by knowing in the first place if their kids have bipolar disorder. Then and only then can they begin to understand and deal with their children's feelings and actions. They should take pains to keep their bipolar kids not only mentally but also physically healthy. Everyday common illnesses should be given more attention. Parents should learn to see and read between the lines whether these are simple pronouncements or actually cries for help. Bottom line is, parents of bipolar kids need to watch their kids more closely, with an open heart, and an open mind.