Bipolar Disorder in Kids

09/14/2007 at 12:00 p.m.

Until recently, bipolar disorder was rarely diagnosed in children. But a new study says diagnoses of the disorder in children and adolescents has increased forty fold since 1994. Are we really seeing a juvenile bipolar epidemic? Or are psychiatrists over–diagnosing the disorder? Maybe the drug companies are perpetrating a fraud on American parents? Are the new study findings really accurate, or can other symptoms be misread? What is bipolar disorder? What should an alert parent watch for? And if your child is diagnosed bipolar, what next? Is bipolar disorder treatable?

Guests:
Dr. Jon McClellan is the Director of the Child Study and Treatment Center at Children’s Hospital in Seattle.