Adolescnets With Bipolar

March 4th, 2009 Posted in Anxiety and Depression

Bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness is a serious brain illness. It has a good prognosis if treated and managed well. This disorder is marked by unusual and extreme mood, energy, and behavioral changes. The disorder can be diagnosed during childhood years but is more common during the adolescent and adult stages.

Bipolar illness in children may look different to the adult ones.  Manic-depression (mix of mania and depression) in children is usually having an ongoing, continuous mood disturbance. Episodes of manic –depression in adolescents may be triggered by a loss or an event that is traumatic. The illness can come again independently and worse by the experience of stress. Without proper treatment bipolar illness can come again or may get worse.

Bipolar Disorder in Adolescents and Substance Abuse

Children can go through adolescents and puberty looking normal but a sudden onset of bipolar illness can lead to an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Because drugs and alcohol are readily available teens will attempt to use this substance to control their insomnia and mood swings. Bipolar disorder and addiction must be treated at the same time if they are diagnosed together.

Dramatic mood swings in adolescents are brought about through bipolar. They can be from overly “high” and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with normal mood periods in between. Along with these changes in mood, adolescents may also experience severe changes in energy and behaviour. They come in periods of high and low. Bipolar mania is brought about in the “high” stage, bipolar depression in the “low”. In the middle between these highs and lows, is a stage called hippomania.

Major signs in adolescents with bipolar disorder are: very unusual happiness, irritable and expansive mood, sleeping difficulty and not get tired, very talkative and hard to interrupt, overworked mind and a lot of physical activity.  At the mania stage big impractical delusions are evident with signs of inflated power, self worth identity and knowledge. The person with bipolar is in a critical stage if he/she may be engaging in risky activities and hallucinations.

Treatment Options

There are several methods on how to treat bipolar disorder, such as:

Medication

Several types of medication are prescribed by doctors depending on the symptoms and the severity of the illness. To have the desired effects doctors can combine few medicines together. Parents of bipolar patients must be warned that stopping these medications all of a sudden can be harmful. Always go back and seek the doctor’s advice if anything happens.

Bipolar Therapy

Therapy that is commonly used for bipolar disorder in adolescent is “the talk therapy” known as psychotherapy. It is a good and effective therapy. The aim of this therapy is to change teen’s life style especially their daily routines and behaviors. To show any improvements patients require many sessions attending psychotherapy.

Bipolar Support Groups

Letting the affected teenagers communicate and open up in bipolar support groups can help them manage their disorder by learning from other people. Knowing that there are also others who are suffering from such condition will give them the encouragement to pursue treatments.

Appropriate action must be taken if your teenage child is showing signs of bipolar disorder. Adolescent bipolar must not be taken for granted because it is very dangerous. This is not a normal ups and downs that teens go through it is abnormal and more powerful. Some may try to commit suicide or harm themselves. Because of these problems, bipolar medication, therapies and support groups are all important in helping patients cope with the illness.