Recent studies indicate an alarming trend: more than one million children (under 18) in the United States alone may have bipolar disorder. The worse news? They are frequently undiagnosed and untreated. If you suspect that your child or the child of someone you know may have this illness, then read on to understand what it is exactly, and how you can get help.

What is bipolar disorder and how does it affect kids?

Bipolar disorder, known in the early years of psychology as ‘manic-depression,’ is essentially an intermittent and recurring mood disorder. It is typified by dangerous changes in mood, which often happen irregularly, without a predictable pattern. The moods are ‘manic’ in that the patient feels extreme euphoria one minute, and then extreme anxiety or petulance then next. Most patients are also depressed throughout the disorder.

Bipolar children are especially harder to spot, because the manifestations of their mental illness are very similar to the signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. Children who are easily distractible, reckless, and restless are often hastily assumed to have ADHD when what they really have is bipolar disorder.

Kids with this illness usually fail academically, have higher propensity for substance abuse, and contemplate suicide at a very young age – as young as three years old. But recent studies seem to show an upside to this disorder. Bipolar children seem to be more creative than their ‘normal’ counterparts, and excel in areas such as arts and creative writing.

Red flags

Among the more common manifestations of bipolar disorder in children are sleeping behaviors such as bed-wetting (most especially in boys) and night terrors, verbal communication defects such as hasty speech, lack of mental association, too much daydreaming and hallucinations, and obsession with morbid subjects. Most bipolar children also find it hard to get up every morning, are always exhausted, and have very low self-esteem.

The graver symptoms of bipolar disorder in kids include excessive migraine, brutality to animals, self-mutilation, and sometimes even bingeing on food.

Bipolar children need not only proficient medical and psychological help to learn to control their disorder, but more importantly, strong social encouragement.