Product Description

From the authors of the classic text Overcoming Depression, here is the first book about early-onset bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder--manic depression--was once thought to be rare in children. Now researchers are discovering that not only can bipolar disorder begin very early in life, but also that it is much more common than ever imagined. Yet the illness is often misdiagnosed or overlooked. Why?

Bipolar disorder manifests itself differently in children than in adults, and in children there is an overlap of symptoms with other childhood psychiatric disorders. As a result, these kids may be given any number of psychiatric labels: "ADHD," "Depressed," "Oppositional Defiant Disorder," "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," or "Separation Anxiety Disorder." Too often they are treated with stimulants or antidepressants--medications that can actually worsen the bipolar condition.

The Bipolar Child demystifies this disorder of childhood. Drawing upon recent advances in the fields of neuroscience and genetics, the Papoloses convey what is known and not known about the illness. They comprehensively detail the diagnosis, tell how to find good treatment and medications, and advise parents about ways to advocate effectively for their children at school. Included in these pages is the first Individual Education Plan--IEP--ever published for a bipolar child. The book also offers critical information about the stages of adolescence, hospitalization, the world of insurance, and the psychological impact the illness has on the child.

The Bipolar Child is rich with the voices of parents, siblings, and the children themselves, opening up the long-closed world of the families struggling with this condition. An invaluable resource for parents whose children suffer from mood disorders, as well as the professionals who treat and educate them, this book will prove to have major public health significance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #671224 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-04
• Released on: 2000-01-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Amazon.com Review
For any caregiver experiencing life with a bipolar child, Demitri and Janice Papolos's The Bipolar Child will be an indispensable reference guide. The material is presented clearly, with lots of helpful charts and lists to aid in receiving proper diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care. All medical information is relayed with the aim of helping parents to ensure effective treatment for their children and includes journal-tracking formats to help caregivers provide accurate information to personal physicians. Importantly, many pages are devoted to discussions about the emotional upheavals that living with a bipolar child can bring, and how parents and children can cope most effectively. The book is filled with families' stories that do a beautiful job providing comfort and inspiration to others. A detailed chapter on hospitalization covers everything from insurance to types of treatments. The authors provide excellent information regarding improved educational practices, with step-by-step instructions for goal-setting with your child and communicating your child's needs to school personnel. The Bipolar Child is a satisfying and wise read. --Jill Lightner

From Publishers Weekly
Demitri, associate professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and his wife, Janice (authors of Overcoming Depression), present a comprehensive view of early-onset bipolar disorder, focusing on how this complicated illness evolves in children. The authors warn that nearly one-third of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may actually be bipolar (previously called manic depression), and they stress the importance of getting early diagnosis and treatmentAespecially since ritalin, which is commonly prescribed for ADHD, may worsen the bipolar child's condition. The authors dispel the myth that bipolar disorder occurs only in adolescents and adults and note that cases of bipolar disorder are increasingly occurring at a younger age. While the book sounds several alarms, it also offers support to parents (Demitri is the adviser for an online support group for parents of bipolar children, from which the authors culled much of their anecdotal information). In addition to diagnosis and treatment, the authors discuss practical ways to deal with the condition itself, as well as the impact it has on the entire family. This is an important guide for parents seeking ways to cope with this potentially devastating disorder. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In their frightening yet supportive book, Papolos (psychiatry, Albert Einstein Coll. of Medicine) and his wife (coauthor, with her husband, of Overcoming Depression) describe life with a bipolar child in great detail. These authors write for real people with very real day-to-day crises, laying out in generalists' terms the psychopathology and genetics of bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic-depression). They emphasize the importance and difficulties of finding the correct diagnosis and drug therapies. Their empathetic discussions of the extended family, school-related problems, hospitalization, insurance companies, welfare, and adolescence suggest what to expect, what to say, and how to advocate for bipolar children. A listing of helpful organizations and web sites as well as resources, questionnaires, and an extensive bibliography are all provided. Highly recommended, especially for teachers and families of bipolar children.
-AMargaret Cardwell, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Clarkston
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The Bipolar Child
This book is a must for understanding why your bipolar child does some of the things they do. We are raising our Grand daughter who is bipolar and it has given me far more information than anything I had read. It gets easier to be more patient and understanding when you realize that the child is not just being defiant and hard to get along with.
Some parts get a little technical, but if you are dealing with a child with this illness you will certainly get your money's worth.

Comprehensive reference for frustrated parents
Overall, this is a very good book. It contains a good mixture of medical information, real life examples, research findings, and links to resources and support groups. (The later may be especially useful to you.) Unfortunately, the book tries to address too diverse an audience simultaneously. Most of it is for parents, but one chapter is way too technical. At times, it seems like the authors are trying to write to the medical community of therapists and physicans at their level as well as to parents without that level of knowledge. Best advice -- skip over the excruciatingly technical details and keep going. I almost put the book down midway through, but was glad I kept on reading because it picked back up.

Having raised a bipolar child, I can attest to the many frustrations mentioned in the book -- like when consequences have no effect on behavior. Praise or punish, it matters not. Now, what do you do? It took nearly 10 years for us to discover the underlying cause of our child's symptoms and we were reluctant to believe it at first. But, the bipolar pieces fit together and pursuing treatment along those lines ultimately made a major difference. When we ran into this quagmire (diagnosed in 1992), there were not nearly so many support groups or treatment options available. Having this book 16 years ago would have been a major blessing. Our experience parallels much of what is mentioned in the book. For example, medication has remained a trial and error adjustment process -- what works for one person does not for another and new drugs replace older ones.

If you are wondering whether you child's behavior is outside of normal, or you know it is and are wondering why, reading this book will help you determine if it might be caused by bipolar disorder. The authors know what they are talking about.

Ought to be illegal.
I wonder why nobody goes to prison over this. Drugging children should be against the law. For whatever reason a child misbehaves, using drugs in any case should be met with the prescriber being imprisoned. My life was literally, not practically, not virtually, but literally ruined by being drugged as a child -- I would had rather been a [...] rape victim, at least then I would have healed. Yet, nobody gets stopped and nobody gets punished. The practice continues, rationalized by horrible people doing horrible things as necessary because it's what they do and what keeps them employed.

No brain needs drugs, period. None of these drugs are healthy to be on and in fact all of anti psychotics and mood stabilizers work by damaging and disabling normal, healthy parts of the brain.

Better reading would be "Blaming the brain", By Elliot Valenstein, Ph.d psychologist and neuroscientist and "Mad In America" By Robert Whitaker, award winning science and medical writer who was a finalist for the 1998 pulitzer prize (Among many other things, including his book being awarded one of Discover magazines best science books of 2002 and an American Library Association best book selection as well.)... And why don't we compare even just these two of many authors of truth to say, Joseph Biederman?

Which of the three do you think is most intelligent, scientific and telling the truth. The accredited scientists, or the man being paid millions of dollars by Big Pharma to try and culturally justify through a abuse of science and medicine the action of drugging disruptive children.

Google

MindFreedom Neuroleptic Brain damage

And Robert Whitaker Neuroleptics Natural News


"1 of 8 people found the following review helpful: "

It's amazing, there are actually people out there who care so little for children - even their own! - that when the truth is spoken, they'd rather just drug the child and stick their head in the sand. It's most important that your own life isn't disrupted or that you don't have to work with your child, right?

You hide behind psychiatry to make it look like you're not bad parents who are abusing your children, but guess what... Psychiatry is easy to shoot holes through. You're hiding behind something that accredited scientists and medical specialties only considered legitimate because of a biochemical imbalance hypothesis that has long been destroyed and only kept alive in the media (thus the culture) via the money and power of the drug companies.

Hiding behind psychiatry to pretend you're not a bad parent is no better than hiding behind a street drug dealer. You're using powerful, life destroying drugs to sweep away the problems you have at home so you can get back to a life that doesn't involve actually having to deal with people you don't truly appreciate.


I wonder how many of you people even googled those keywords and I wonder how many of you are too busy watching American Idol while your child suffers EPS to even care.