Irritability ‘Key to Bipolar Disorder’

Parents, please note — want to know where your child is suffering from bipolar disorder? It’s simple for a study says that irritability should be considered when diagnosing for the condition.
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Researchers at Bradley Hospital in Providence have found that some kids with bipolar disorder experience manic episodes without extreme elation — one of the hallmarks of the disorder — and are diagnosed based on irritable mood.

“Diagnosing kids with bipolar disorder is challenging. One of the chief controversies is whether irritability should be included among the criteria for this diagnosis because it can also overlap with a number of other psychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“Our findings confirm that while irritable-only mania is uncommon, it does exist — particularly in younger children — and should be considered in a bipolar diagnosis,” Jeffrey Hunt, who led the study, said in a statement.

For their study, the researchers quantified frequency and severity of manic symptoms — including irritability and elation — in 361 children, all between the ages of 7 and 17, already diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The researchers found 10% of children were irritable-only and about 15% were elated-only. Nearly three-quarters experienced both elation and irritability, the findings revealed.

The study has been published in the latest edition of the ‘Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry‘.

Source:BBC NEWS:28Th. June. ’09

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