Using the diagnosis “bipolar disorder” for children with problems in mood has been controversial ever since a surge in its use in the mid-1990’s.

Team@CMHF

• The problem with using “bipolar” is that it requires a too-loose interpretation of the symptoms seen in adults with bipolar disorder.
• That is, the symptoms in children aren’t really like those seen in adults.
• There is consensus that children with wide mood swings need help.
• It is becoming increasingly clear that children with up-and-down mood probably have some other problem, not bipolar disorder.
• These children can be described as emotionally “dysregulated,” that is, their brain cannot seem to keep their emotions regulated or stable.
• That seems to better describe that, children with severe irritability or very angry (as opposed to impulsive) aggression that causes them problems at home and school: severe mood dysregulation (SMD).
• Child psychiatrists don’t have much time with kids.
• In the process we ignore a lot of information related to diagnosis that would help tailor a much better interventions — information like how mom and dad are getting along, whether or not the home is safe, whether mom has to work so many hours each day to make ends meet that she has little time for her son, and the like.
• In most cases, proper treatment for the psychological and social world in which a child lives goes much farther toward helping his behaviors than having the right label on his behavior.

More at http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/06/children-bipolar-disorder.html