Bipolar I Disorder, Most Recent Episode Mixed

You said that your child often switches between extremely high and low moods. Recently this has happened nearly every day for at least a week. You said this is very different from how your child usually feels. These changes in how your child feels have caused some big problems for him/her at home or school. 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 that your child has recently had both high and low moods nearly every day for at least 1 week.

You said your child has some of the following problems when s/he is in a high mood:

• 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 - uses alcohol and drugs, risky sexual activities

You said your child has some of the following problems when s/he is in a low mood:

• Sadness, Irritability
• 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

These problems may be so bad that you and/or your child's doctor feel there is a need to hospitalize your child. This is usually done to keep him/her from harming himself/herself or others. 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).