Why has there been a 4,000 percent increase over the past 10 years in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar?
Top experts offer a range of reasons. They acknowledge some of the increase is likely due to bipolar being mislabeled; some think “bipolar disorder” has become a catch-all diagnosis for kids with a range of problems. But many experts say the increase is simply because doctors are better at identifying bipolar in children today than they were 10 years ago. They believe these kids have always existed, but that doctors failed to recognize the symptoms of bipolar and called these children oppositional or diagnosed them with ADHD. Some experts also cite evidence of a genetic link behind the rise in childhood bipolar, and some even speculate that environmental factors are playing a role in triggering childhood bipolar. MORE: Comments from experts interviewed for this FRONTLINE report — … Dr. Thomas Insel, head of NIMH, explains why “it’s not really clear whether many of the kids who are called bipolar have anything that’s related to [the] … disorder in adults.” … Child psychiatrist Dr
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