Bipolar disorder presents unique pharmacologic challenges. Those treating children or adolescents with bipolar disorder face the additional challenge of having far less information to inform their treatment decisions.
The studies have been done and the consensus is in. Juvenile bipolar disorder (JBD) has probably been overdiagnosed recently, and the DSM-5 will describe a narrower phenotype to qualify for the diagnosis. At this point, it is worth thinking about how we got here, and what it means for clinicians as a cautionary tale for the future.
Although practicing in Australia, I have followed the PBD phenomenon in the USA for several years. PBD had become the most common diagnosis in pre-pubertal children in US psychiatric inpatient units by 2004.
What bipolar patients, as well as their doctors, may not know is the amount of current research centered on light-dark therapy and the potential implications of this research on treating bipolar.
Are children with severe mood dysregulation (SMD) at a greater risk for developing bipolar disorder? Dr. Leibenluft explains her extensive research on this subject.
What are the differences in the brains of children with bipolar disorder and how can we use this information in the treatment of pediatric bipolar disorder? Dr. Pavuluri takes us through her pediatric brain research findings.
Popular among individuals seeking to avoid social and legal consequences of drug use, a bewildering array of synthetic intoxicants and formerly obscure ethnobotanicals have surged to prominence in the past decade.