Detection and Diagnosis

Symptoms of manic depression can become evident in a child’s life as early as infancy. The early symptoms include erratic sleeping patterns or difficulty settling down. During the toddler stage in a child’s life, symptoms are expressed through extreme temper tantrums, rages and severe separation anxiety.

Symptoms in children may not present themselves the same as in adults. Children who suffer from manic depression do display traits such as mood swings and erratic behaviour, however in children, these symptoms come in episodes. Episodes of elevated agitation or excitement and high energy are known as mania; episodes of extreme irritability or sadness followed by lethargy is the depression aspect of the disorder.

Different from adults, children tend to suffer from ongoing mood disturbances that are a combination of depression and mania. The severe and rapid cycle of moods creates a chronic sense of irritability and fewer episodes of excessive happiness and excitement. Rapidly cycling through moods is quite common among manic-depressive children, who may experience different episodes bouncing between depression and mania several times throughout a single day. These symptoms of depression and mania may even at times occur at the same time.

Associated Illnesses

In addition, in many cases, other mental disorders are found in children who suffer from manic depression. Some mental disorders commonly found alongside of or misdiagnosed as manic depression in children are Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Tourette syndrome and schizophrenia.

In is currently suspected that many children who are diagnosed with ADHD may actually be suffering from manic depression instead. Misdiagnosis can be dangerous, leading to the wrong medication, which can trigger extreme mania or thoughts of suicide in these children.

For many in their teenage years, it is found that a great loss or traumatic event can result in triggering the first manic or depressive episode. Later, these episodes can occur without obvious reason and may even worsen if stress is introduced into the child’s life.

Many children find puberty to be a time of risk for manic or depressive episodes. For girls, the disorder may be triggered by the onset of her first menstrual cycle and continue to experience symptoms with increased severity during her regular cycle each month.

Early diagnosis and treatment is the first step toward recovery from childhood manic depression. Early detection will give these children a better sense of stability in their lives so they can grow into happy, healthy adults.