Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Psychology - Clinic and
Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, ( Atlantic International
University ), language: English, abstract: Bipolar Disorder, formerly
known as manic depressive illness, is an affective disorder that is
characterized by periods of mania alternating with periods of
depression; these are usually interspersed with relatively long
intervals of normal mood. It is interesting to note that this disorder
has been shown to be one of the commonest disorders but has only
recently been given its own classification, having previously been
confused with many other disorders. Prevalence In the 1998 American
census it was discovered that 20% of the adult population, some 44.3
million, had a mental-health issue. In addition to this, 20% of the
children had also been diagnosed with a behavioural or emotional issue;
this equates to between 7.7 and 12.8 million children (Stillman, 2005).
Bipolar Disorder is believed to affect around 2.3 million adults in
America and a conservative estimate of a million children. In Sue, Sue &
Sue (1997) the prevalence of bipolar disorder is placed at around 1% of
the adult population while 8-17% have experienced some form of major
depressive episode. Bipolar disorder seems to be rare in children but
there have been documented cases of children as young as four years old
displaying the symptoms (Poznanski, Israel, & Grossman, 1984). It is
interesting to note here that Taylor & Abrams (1981) suggest that about
a third of all bipolar cases begin during adolescence, adding value to
the focus of bipolar disorder in childhood. Papolos & Papolos (2006) add
that an estimated third of all children who have been diagnosed with
attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD) have been
misdiagnosed and are actually suffering from a mood disorder. The
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry suggest that a third
of the 3.4 million children who appear to be su
