ipolar depression is different than many forms of depression. With a bipolar disorder, a person experiences mania. Mania allows an individual to experience an extreme high that more than likely will impair judgment. Bipolar disorder will affect a person their entire life, but with the right treatment plan, a person can cope with bipolar depression as long as they completely understand this illness.

Bipolar depression usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood. However, at this early stage, it is usually not seen as a psychological problem because it is sporadic. Individuals that have this disorder will have unique patterns to their mood cycles.

These cycles will combine both depression and mania. Once the unique patterns of cycles are identified, treatment can begin. But, until a person's cycles are seen as being true bipolar disorder, a person can suffer for years needlessly.

Bipolar Disorder in Children

Ever noticed sudden and extreme mood swings in your child? Does he often show high levels of excitement and activity only to be unusually irritable and irrationally angry or enraged the next minute? Are your child's tantrums exceptionally long and easily provoked?

If you answer yes to all three questions, your child may have a condition known as a bipolar disorder or manic-depression. It is a brain disorder that causes frequent and extreme behavior changes in a person. Until, recently children have not been known to acquire or develop bipolar disorders but several doctors agree that children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD may actually be experiencing the early symptoms of a full-blown bipolar disorder. While considered a very serious condition, this genetically acquired brain disorder is treatable. With early detection and proper diagnosis, monitoring and medication, children with bipolar disorders can lead normal and productive lives.

Symptom of Bipolar Disorder

A person with bipolar disorder usually goes through spells of mania followed by spells of depression. These periods of happiness and sadness are not normal bouts of happiness and sadness that everyone experiences from time to time. Instead, these episodes are intense and may be categorized as severe mood swings. Symptoms of mania are associated with - rapid speech and thoughts, amplified energy, sleep deprivation, elevated mood and inflated confidence, increased physical and mental activity, unwarranted irritability, aggressive behavior, impatience and poor judgment, irresponsible behavior like over spending, making rash decisions, erratic driving, difficulty concentrating and an inflated sense of self-importance.

In adults the phase of mania or depression can last for weeks or months. In children and adolescents, these episodes can be for a shorter period, and a child or teenager can n go back and forth between mania and depression throughout the day. Episodes of mania or depression may happen irregularly and follow a changeable pattern or they may be linked with a manic episode following a period of depression, or vice versa.

Treatment

Failure to diagnose and treat this disorder can prove fatal. Sometimes undiagnosed bipolar disorder patient end up in a psychiatric hospital or residential treatment centers and may attempt suicide. Children and teens with bipolar disorder do not usually show the same patterns of behavior as adults who have a similar condition. A mental health professional has to observe a teen's behavior carefully before making a diagnosis. For treatment of this disorder a complete history of the person's past and present experiences is very essential.

Medication and psychotherapy are known to be effective treatments for bipolar disorder. Occasionally, doctors may also use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Psychotherapy is often used simultaneously with medications. Detecting the patterns leading up to episodes of bipolar disorder and trying to identify triggers for these episodes is very important. Patterns may include use of medications or anything that happens physically or emotionally.