Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Depressed

You said that your child was recently sad a lot of the time for at least 2 weeks. You said this is very different from how your child usually feels. You also said that in the past your child has had times where s/he had a very high mood. S/he may also have switched quickly from feeling sad to happy within a short time. These changes in how your child feels have caused some problems for him/her at home or other places. It may be causing problems in how s/he gets along with you, other adults, or other children. Some children who have the problems that you reported have Bipolar Disorder.

You said your child has had some of the following problems for 2 weeks or longer:

• Feels sad or irritable
• Crying
• Doesn't want to do things s/he used to enjoy
• Eats too much or too little
• Has problems falling asleep or waking up too early
• Has too little or too much energy
• Feels worthless
• Has little or no hope
• Can't stay on task
• Feels bad him/herself
• Thinks about death
• Thinks about hurting or killing him/herself

You also said that your child has had times in the past where s/he felt overly happy or irritable. When this happened, you or others were worried about your child.

You should watch for changes in how your child feels. Although your child is not having these problems now, you said s/he had them before (and may have them again):

• Big changes in how s/he feels: overly happy or silly; very irritable or angry
• Feeling too good about him/herself
• Too much energy; can go with little or no sleep for days without feeling tired
• Increase in talking. S/he talks too much, too fast, changes topics too quickly, and cannot be interrupted.
• Can't stay on task - shifts constantly from one thing to the next
• Takes big risks

The types of problems that you reported are not very common in children.

Adapted in part from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Facts for Families© series (1997), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Primary Care (DSM-PC) (1996) , and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder: Fourth Edition (1994).