From Sept. 7 issue of Activate:
In a uniquely American trend, more children than ever are being diagnosed as bipolar, a psychiatric disorder of alternating mania and depression. Between 1994 and 2003 there was a 40-fold rise in diagnosed cases — and a similar jump in prescriptions for anti-psychotic medicine — in children under 19, according to a new study.
The news has fractured the field of child psychiatry. Some doctors argue that there is a new and needed awareness of the disease. Others warn that the disorder can be confused with ADHD, anxiety, and depression, or over-diagnosed due to heavy marketing by drug companies and lower parental tolerance for troubling behavior. (CN)
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