- ADHD symptoms always appear before the age of seven. However, the average age of onset for bipolar disorder is 26, according to Dr. William Dodson in ADDitude magazine.
- Both ADHD and bipolar disorder are believed to run in families, so finding a family history of one or the other can help make the diagnosis. However, ADHD appears to be more prevalent in family histories than bipolar disorder. So, no family history of either ADHD or bipolar disorder is more common in children with bipolar disorder.
- ADHD primarily affects attention and behavior, but can affect a child's moods. Bipolar disorder affects the moods, which can then affect a child's behavior and attention. Children with bipolar disorder may also make grandiose statements, be more aggressive or hurtful in social interactions, or display sexualized behaviors commonly seen in children who have been sexually abused but without any history of having been abused. Psychosis, or thoughts not based on reality, are also common in children with bipolar disorder but not seen in children with ADHD.
- Both ADHD and bipolar disorder can cause mood swings in children. However, they differ in what causes them. Children with ADHD react to situations in their environment while children with bipolar disorder have mood swings with no apparent cause. Also, children with ADHD will often "snap" or shift suddenly from one mood to another while children with bipolar disorder can take several hours or days to change moods.
- Children with ADHD will have rapid mood swings. They may move from depression to euphoria several times in one day. In contrast, the mood swings for children with bipolar disorder last several weeks if not longer. Even children with "rapid-cycling" bipolar disorder have mood swings that last longer than children with ADHD, as a "rapid" bipolar cycle is one that has changed at least four times with a year.
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