Bipolar Disorder and Child/Adolescent Development: Understanding the Connection

According to Bettina E. Bernstein, D.O., approximately 20 percent of adults with bipolar disorder experienced symptoms as children and adolescents. When symptoms in youth are left untreated, bipolar disorder often affects developmental needs.

Significance

• Examining how bipolar disorder affects developmental needs allows for early intervention to prevent delays resulting from the psychiatric condition.

Function

• Daily functioning is affected by bipolar disorder, which causes severe mood swings and various other symptoms that interrupt school, home and social functioning.

Identification

• Diagnosing bipolar disorder requires clinical evaluation of how symptoms are interfering with daily life, including emotional, cognitive and physical development.

Features

• Bipolar disorder includes symptoms such as irritability, agitation, sleep disturbance, poor judgment and insight. All of these symptoms are capable of interfering with basic needs that promote healthy development.

Considerations

• Using medication to control symptoms of bipolar disorder may impact physical development, while the extreme mood swings impact social-emotional development, and impaired insight, judgment and decision-making affect cognitive development.