Bipolar Children - Overdiagnosed?
Posted by Administrator in Mental Health.A growing epidemic?
Rebecca Riley seemed a normal, playful young child, if at times a little boisterous. Then, aged 2, she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and at 3 as having a bipolar personality. By the age of 4, Rebecca was dead, killed by an overdose of the drug clonidine, which was being used to treat her condition. She was also taking the anti-convulsant Depakote (valproate) and the anti-psychotic Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) to stabilise her mood.
Rebecca died next to her parents’ bed in Hull, Massachusetts, on 13 December last year. This Wednesday a pre-trial hearing began that will be followed by a full trial to determine whether her parents, Carolyn and Michael Riley, intentionally gave Rebecca too much of the drug, or whether she died of an accidental overdose.
Whatever the verdict, Rebecca’s tragic story forms part of a wider narrative: the growing numbers of young children in the US being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and given drugs to treat it. While the trend is clear, the reasons behind it are not. Psychiatrists also disagree over whether children are being helped or harmed by being diagnosed with the condition.
Bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression. People with it swing across an extreme spectrum of moods, usually from a state in which they feel euphoric and active, to one of depression and despondency, and back again. Read more