Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes shifts in mood, energy and ability to function. It's different from the normal ups and downs in life. The symptoms of bipolar disorder can be severe. They can also result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance and even lead to suicide.

 

The good news is that bipolar disorder can be treated.

 

People, including teens, with this illness can lead happy, full and productive lives.

 

Most people typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. The symptoms come on gradually, sometimes are hard to see and are sometimes misdiagnosed as emotional and behavioral problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and an assortment of other illness.

 

That is why it is important for teens to learn as much about bipolar disorder as they can. Even if you do not know someone who has bipolar, chances are you know a brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, parent or friend who does.

 

Bipolar is often not recognized as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. The earlier a proper diagnosis and treatment occurs the better of for those who have the illness.

 

One unfortunate fact about bipolar disorder and many other mental illnesses is that almost all of the clinical trials on medications are done on adults and animals, primarily for ethical reasons. This might keep teens and children safe but it also makes it more difficult for psychiatrists treat bipolar disorder. That is part of the reason that many professionals recommend that teens are seen by a psychiatrist who is Board Certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. These psychiatrists go through years of rigorous training and testing to certify that they can treat children and adolescents, while many who call themselves child and adolescent psychiatrists have not.

 

Like heart disease or diabities, bipolar is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person's life. Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychologist who specializes in mood disorders and suffers from bipolar herself, wrote in her critically acclaimed book An Unquiet Mind , "Manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live. It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide." She adds, "I am fortunate that I have not died from my illness, fortunate in having received the best medical care available, and fortunate in having the friends, colleagues, and family that I do."

 

Support from others your age with bipolar can help address these issues. You can learn new ideas. You can find out about new treatments. You can receive comfort in the simple notion that the person across the table has been through what you are going through.