Health Provider Checklist for Adolescent and Young Adult Males

Mental Health

Bipolar disorder

  • Bipolar disorder is a condition in which a person goes back and forth between periods of a very good or irritable mood and depression.
  • The "mood swings" between mania and depression can be very quick.
  • The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs more often in relatives of people with bipolar disorder.
  • The Conners' Abbreviated Parent Questionnaire is a promising tool as a screen for a prepubertal and early adolescent bipolar disorder phenotype and has similar sensitivity and specificity to screening tools for adult bipolar disorder.

Questions to ask young male patients about Bipolar disorder

Overview

Note: Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder is a new condition introduced in the DSM-5 to apply to children and adolescents who do not meet the criteria for bipolar disorder but nonetheless have severe mood dysregulation problems exhibiting persistent irritability and frequent episodes of extreme, out-of-control behavior (see below).

Bipolar disorder is a condition in which a person goes back and forth between periods of a very good or irritable mood and depression. The "mood swings" between mania and depression can be very quick. The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs more often in relatives of people with bipolar disorder.

Types of bipolar disorder:

Type I: Have had at least one manic episode and periods of major depression. In the past, bipolar disorder type I was called manic depression.

Type II: Periods of high energy levels and impulsiveness that are not as extreme as mania (called hypomania). These periods alternate with episodes of depression.

Cyclothymia: Involves less severe mood swings. People with this form alternate between hypomania and mild depression. People with bipolar disorder type II or cyclothymia may be wrongly diagnosed as having depression.1

Bipolar disorder, although rare in young children, can appear in both children and adolescents.2  The unusual shifts in mood, energy, and functioning that are characteristic of bipolar disorder may begin with manic, depressive, or mixed manic and depressive symptoms. It is more likely to affect the children of parents who have the illness. Twenty to 40 percent of adolescents with major depression go on to reveal bipolar disorder within five years after the onset of depression.

1 National Library of Medicine. Bipolar Disorder.

2 Ryan ND, Puig-Antich J, Ambrosini P, Rabinovich H, Robinson D, Nelson B, Iyengar S, Twomey J. The clinical picture of major depression in children and adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1987.