Bipolar disorder, or in other words, manic depression or manic-depressive illness, is a mental disorder which is characterized by periods of depressive and manic phases with abrupt or gradual onsets and recoveries (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016). Each phase has its symptoms. The depressive phase is characterized by performance decrement, melancholic mood, sadness, listless, inability to show interest or to enjoy life, a poor appetite, and disturbed sleep (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016). A person in a manic phase is abnormally excited, in a euphoric mood, expansive, talkative, sometimes aggressive, boisterous and irritable. Such person is too self-assured, overenthusiastic, and very communicable, simply cannot stay alone in silence, talks loudly, and too fast, and progresses rapidly from one topic to another. Gesticulation and motion are rapid and brusque. The most extreme manifestations of these two mood disturbances are, in the manic phase, violence against others and, in the depressive, suicide (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016).
If we take the statistics, it can be seen that are more common among teenagers, about 6 or 8 percent of the general population around the world compared to 4 percent for bipolar in adults (Youngstrom, 2012). There are a difficulties in diagnosing bipolar disorders among kids and teenagers because sometimes only one phase is observed, so it can be taken for hyperactivity, for example. Also gathering a patient's family history is important in diagnostics, because manic depression has a very strong genetic component (Krehbiel, 2000).
A boy who had bipolar disorder was at my summer camp. He attracted everyone’s attention since the first day; it was quite a challenge for everyone. He could never sit still, he always used to run away somewhere, listened to no one, incited everybody to do some stupid and dangerous things, he had a lot of ideas, not all of his undertakings were safe. He escaped several times a day, so we had to look for him in the woods, and then ask him to get down from a tree. One day, for no reason he attacked a girl and had a long conversation with the head of the camp who gave him a warning. The next day everything seemed like he understood that he was sorry for his to misbehave. He was quiet, silent, didn’t eat anything. It repeated the next day and the day after. He could sit still and watch in one spot without blinking. Everyone began to afraid of him and to keep clear of him. Then his parents were called and they were recommended to have a word with a psychologist. That's when it turned out that the boy had bipolar disorder. The parents did not know. He was 13, they thought that his behavior was normal for his age, none of the parents did suffer from this disease, but surely someone from the family did. He was taken away on the same day.
Bipolar disorder in adolescents is dangerous because it is difficult to diagnose: at their age mood swings, aggression, hyperactivity or inactivity, and talks about suicide are a fairly common phenomenon. How many teenagers commit suicide each year, but not because of the insults and humiliation, not because of problems in the family, and because of the fact that they were sick and needed medical treatment.
And it is definitely important to visit a psychiatrist in addition to medical treatment because it can help to teenagers to realize their state and understand the importance of therapy.
References
Bipolar disorder. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/science/bipolar-disorder
Krehbiel, K. (2000). Diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. Retrieved from apa.org: http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct00/bipolar.aspx
Youngstrom, E. (2012). Myths and Realities About Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from apa.org: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/10/bipolar-disorder.aspx
