VIDEO: Evidence supports bipolar disorder diagnosis in children

SAN FRANCISCO — Emerging research supports bipolar disorder as a valid diagnosis in children, according to a speaker at the American Psychiatric Association.

Janet R. Wozniak, MD, director of the pediatric bipolar disorder clinical and research program at Massachusetts General Hospital, says in this Healio video that the disorder has been neglected for many years.

“But today I presented a number of studies and converging evidence that’s been emerging over the past decades that provides a compelling story that it’s a highly morbid, valid diagnosis and responds to treatment with mood stabilizers,” she said. “These children should be treated because the risk of not treating includes potentially terrible outcomes.”

The clinical presentation is highly comorbid, especially with ADHD, she said, making it a difficult differential diagnosis.

These children have emotional dysregulation with aggressive and destructive disorders and are at risk for developing suicidality and substance use disorder as they age, Wozniak said.