You said that your child was recently overly happy or irritable for at least one week. You said this is very
different from how your child usually feels. You also said that your child has had a time(s) in the past when s/he
felt very sad or overly happy. These changes in how your child feels have caused some 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.
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. Some children who have the
problems that you reported have Bipolar Disorder.
You said that your child has recently had some of the following problems for 1 week or longer:
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 may have said that your child had a time(s) in the past when s/he felt very sad for 2 weeks or longer. If 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 the following
problems now, s/he may have them in the future:
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
Says stomach or head hurts
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
The types of problems that you reported are not very common in children.
