Bipolar children often overlooked, expert says

A recent complaint about the Alberta Children's Hospital highlights the challenges for parents of children who may have bipolar disorders, an American mental health expert says. Dr. Barbara Geller, who teaches psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, says parents around the world face doubts from health-care workers who should be better educated about the latest research.

Earlier this week, Calgary resident Alison Lundgren told CBC News that health-care workers at Alberta Children's Hospital had dismissed a bipolar disorder diagnosis for her nine-year-old daughter, Riana.

Bipolar disorders are characterized by severe mood swings. Lundgren takes Riana to the hospital when she has those episodes, such as the time the girl made her way to the roof of the garage and told her mother she was waiting for the wind to blow her to her death. While a Calgary psychiatrist has diagnosed Riana as suffering a bipolar disorder, the child's mother says hospital staff told her such a condition is not possible in children. She said they told her Riana's problems are the result of behaviour and parenting issues.

Gellar says accurate diagnosis of bipolar children is a problem, and notes that young patients can become suicidal if they aren't treated properly. She has been researching bipolar disorders in American children for years and has studied the issue for the U.S. National Institutes of Health. A website has been started by American parents who have had similar problems with their children's bipolar diagnoses, Geller said. Earlier this week, Dr. Chris Wilkes, head of child and adolescent mental health with the Calgary Health Region, said bipolar disorder occurs in less than one per cent of children. It's tricky to diagnose and research in the area is relatively new, he added. Wilkes says it's important that doctors are cautious with bipolar diagnoses in children because treatment has side effects that can interfere with normal development.

31 May 2006

http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/05/31/bipolar.html

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