Author:
Christine Haran
Medical Reviewer:
Vikram Tarugu, MD
Parents are often exasperated by their moody teenagers. After all, teens are known to be irritable, to sleep a lot and to resist authority figures. So how can a concerned parent determine when a teenager is just being a typical teen and when their child has a mental illness such as bipolar disorder?
Bipolar teenagers can have dramatic mood changes within a single day and may have different symptoms than adults. Below, Dr. Barbara Geller, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses how to recognize and treat bipolar disorder in adolescents.
What Is Bipolar Disorder?
The specific definition for bipolar disorder includes certain symptoms that patients must have to make a diagnosis. Bipolar people have to experience both depressed and manic episodes. For example, to fit the depressed part, a teen would need to be sad, to lose enjoyment in usual activities, to have trouble sleeping and eating, to be guilt-ridden or suicidal. To fit the manic part, they'd have to have elation: a mood of being happy as if the most wonderful thing in your life is happening except it's on a day that's like any other day. Parents will often see their child get suddenly silly, giddy, joking without an apparent reason.
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