Bipolar Illness Soars as a Diagnosis for the Young

I think that this is something the medical community can make billions on, and have found this out over the past 15 years. I believe this is why the number of cases has gone up.

Doctor: Let's see hmmm, Yep Bi-polar for sure lets medicate them and start them on therapy right away, give your insurance papers to the receptionist. Next!


New York Times



[edit on 4-9-2007 by Realtruth]

No surprise here. Government trained staff diagnosing adolescent kids with mental disorders so they can prescribe the psychotropic drug du jour.

Anyone who lets their kids take meds such as prozac or ritalin should be arrested for child abuse.

[edit on 4-9-2007 by slackerwire]

As the article states, and I concur with, I don't think this is down to anything more than a more thorough diagnosis by medical practitioners. In fact, there is a very simple explanation for why we have seen a huge surge in mental disorders. In the early 1990's there was much stricter criteria published with which physicians could effectively diagnose patients, and this is why we see a rise in the number of patients diagnosed with Autism, Depression, Schizo, etc. Particularly, when we come to Bipolar disorder, we can see that the number of cases have risen dramatically in 1994 to coincide with the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV):

DSM-IV, published 1994

As you can see, the criteria for an effective diagnosis of Bipolar disorder was not supported by clinical evidence until 1994. For instance, some mental disorders were simply not recognized until this publication was released, such as Rett's Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger's, etc. There is a veritable plethora of scientific criteria that is supported by medical researchers and peer reviewed studies to conclude these means for effective diagnosis are correct, than to simply suggest these new disorders are a way for physicians to become "pill pushers". If you want to know the real science behind this disorder take a look through this:

WebMd: Bi-polar disorder, How Physicians diagnose the disorder

This study was conducted over a six year time period and involved thousands of people involved in the clinical stages. Some people do not understand the amount of research and time that is put into these studies; they are simply not rolled off the assembly line as some people tend to think.

Children are not well equipped to sit still and quiet for hours on end, especially young boys, this does not make them all ADD,

could easy accomodations be made to help them succeed such as being allowed to stand at their desk, sit on the floor, take a five minute break to stretch and do a couple jumping jacks to get the heeby jeebies out? extend the school day by a small amount to ensure adequate recess and PE times
as long as they arent disruptive why not try those tactics first.

Teenagers are often incredibly moody, irrational, emotional, and have wild swings, this is normal but can make it much harder to diagnose a true disorder vs normal chemistry changes in their brain and body.

diagnoses is often thorough and correct when done by a well trained sensitive psychologist.

But too often family doctors or school psychcologists or other less aware people are making these diagnoses and starting them on medication

Heavy duty psychiatric medication is used as the first line and often only treatment in way too many cases. side effects are minimalized or ignored or sometimes even blamed on the condition itself

Seeing this thread and another today about a man having his ammunition taken from him for "mental illness" makes me wonder if that diagnosing so many children with phantom illness at an age when they are clearly not in control of their own lives and must be subjected to any will the doctor the parents or the government may wish to impose will make these children with "mental illness" ineligible for future firearm ownership? Perhaps even unfit to be parents of their own?

Something like this that is so obviously wrong makes me wonder and, at least to some, quite paranoid.

Just an FYI for you all. A tread I started awhile back and someone we knew here in Michigan lost their son to a court and medical community thinking they knew best. They forced Ritalin upon their son until he died.

Death from Ritalin the truth behind ADHD

We are so brainwashed in the USA to just take a pill and everything will get better.

I was diagnosed 4 years ago with Bi-Polar, as was my son's father. I unfortunatly am on psychotropic drugs, my son's father is not. I won't get into my whole background as to why I was diagnosed that's another story. Anyway, because of both mine and the father's bi-polar it was suggested that my son be put on medication because of both parents having the same mental illness. My son is 5 and sure he is high strung but he is a BOY and acts just like any other boy his age. I refuse to put him on medication, he shows no signs of any symptons and since I myself have been through much therapy know the signs and symptoms to look for. I see none of these in him. I personally think they are just basing the decision on the parents and to me that is just absurd. I would never agree to put my son on mind altering medication unless I would see something serious in his later years, teen years or older. I do not understand why children are put on drugs like adderal or ritalin, let the children be children. Although I do understand there may be extreme cases where it may be needed... but not all these children need to be put on these kind of dangerous drugs.

Well to add to the conspiracy slant I would say that bi-polar disorder is an ideal one to capitalize on! (if you're corrupt of course).

You see, bi-polar disorder is both depression and mania. THUS.... patients often get at least two medications subscribed...I mean prescribed. One for the depression, and one for the mania. Sometimes bi-polar patients just get one medication to treat the mania; that often leads to more pronounced depression though. It's not uncommon at all for bi-polar patients to be on at least two drugs, versus the 1 pill ADD'ers pop. I have seen many bi-polar kidz taking 2 anti-depressants (Wellbutrin along with an SSRI) And an anti-convulsant/anti-psychotic (for the mania). /conspiracy slant

ADD/ADHD is usually just one med right? Any member take more then 1 med for ADD/ADHD?

[edit on 4-9-2007 by Cloak and Dagger]

Actually in my post, I should have put a ETC, behind the medications of adderall and ritilin, these meds are just usually prescribed for ADHD or ADD. It is correct that only one of these is used verses Bi-polar using 2 or more to control the mania and the depression. I am on 2 anti-depressants which are both SSRI's and a anti-convulsant. To re-word my post, I would not put my son on any type of mind altering meds, just based on the Dr. saying because both parents are bi-polar that my son probably has it also.

Stuff like this really fries my bacon... Have we, as a society, forgotten what it's like to be a child/teenager? Little kids bounce off the walls because they are kids. They have more energy than adults do. That doesn't mean the have ADD or ADHD. Teenagers are moody because of all of the hormonal changes they go through. When I was a teenager I was happy and laughing one minute and angry and crying the next. Not because I was bipolar, but because I was a teenager. That's what they do.

What I'd like to know is when are we going to get over this "Medication will fix everything" kick that we're on? Not everything is an illness/disease/mental disorder. Not everything requires us to take pills everyday. I'm beyond irritated now...

At the risk of sounding incredibly insensitive, I think these spiking diagnoses are the result of parents not using corporal punishment anymore, or really any type of discipline for that matter. Children are, by default, moody and fickle, the hallmarks of BPD. It is only thru proper discipline that they can learn self-control.

If, however, no type of discipline will work for your child, psychological intervention is probably the only choice.

Originally posted by uberarcanist
At the risk of sounding incredibly insensitive, I think these spiking diagnoses are the result of parents not using corporal punishment anymore, or really any type of discipline for that matter. Children are, by default, moody and fickle, the hallmarks of BPD. It is only thru proper discipline that they can learn self-control.

If, however, no type of discipline will work for your child, psychological intervention is probably the only choice.

Fair enough.

However, Arcanist, do you not think the opposite extreme would also cause psychological disorders? e.g overly controlling parents, extreme discipline to the point of physical abuse. etc.

I do not have bi-polar, I do how ever suffer from post traumatic stress disorder[untreated]. I left my wife of 12 years 2 years ago. She has severe Bi-polar.

We have 3 kids my oldest son has been diagnosed with add and a learning disability. I don't agree that he had add but he for sure has a learning disability he turns 14 in Nov and he can barely read even though enormous effort has been made to teach him. His behavior is IMHO normal yet they want us to give him a add treatment. He is not very popular in his own peer group, except for the girls, but he really gets along and easily makes friend with adults. He is very mechanical I have already taught him how to take computers apart and but them back together, these things come very natural to him, as a child we world give him a broken vcr and a screwdriver and have at it boy this would keep him occupied for days.

My second son has been diagnosed with bi-polar plus ADHD since he was 8 he is now 12. Now unlike his older brother "book" learning for him has not been difficult he has been reading well since he was 6 or 7, but socially he is a walking disaster. He really has no friends he acts out buy invading peoples personal space and person. He touches people in there no no spots. Its like he gets so excited when he is in group settings that he can't control himself, he has acted out this way since he was a toddler. He is overly silly, Im sure its a attempt to be funny so people will like him but its almost like he can't control what he is doing. He is not mechanical like his brother, he is very artistic and talented. He is also the most stubborn person I think I have ever met. He gets into power struggles with teachers at school, I know where he is coming from because I did the same thing when I was young. Basically if the teacher is not entertaining enough he gets bored and refuses to do his work, we have problems like this for the whole school year then the next year he gets a good teacher and he does great. He is medicated but at this time Im not sure what he is on, the doctors change what they give him every few months, I will explain why I don't know what he is long more later in this post. His hand writing was terrible, it was like he would retrace every symbol he would write till his words almost resembled a bar code some line were faint some were bold. The doctors put him of Abilify and within a week his hand writing went from scribbling to almost perfect. However it seems that every effective treatment program he went on after some time had little or no effect, so then he would get a new program.

Ok my wife She is diagnosed with severe bi-polar disorder, she is on SSI disability, and she is pending a divorce with me. She is walking disaster zone, she is a screaming fit waiting to happen for no apparent reason. For example we arrived at our house with another couple, w were laughing and having a great time, we got out of the car walked threw the front door, walked threw the living room into the kitchen and by the time she got to the kitchen she was red-faced and screaming like a banshee and throwing things around for No reason other than the kids were excited to see her. A complete and total change in mood in a 10 second time frame. I have hundreds if not thousands of these stories about her. Im gonna tell of some history between us, in 1999 I left her because she was cheating on me. She is always trying to start her life over, she honestly believe that her happiness lies with "others" or "somebody" so its easy to see why she is pending a divorce. I took her back some 6 months latter, my main reason for doing this was the kids deserved some normalcy in there lives. Now in Oct it will be 2 years since I left her, she was having a affair with a 30 something year old guy that could never hold a job and when he did work he worked at gas stations making $7 a hour, and for some reason she thought he could provide her with the lifestyle and security that I provided her...lol this was a delusional joke. I staid with her about 2 years longer than I should have because I knew as soon as I left her life with this person would fall apart and she would hound me about getting back together. Now thank god she has turned lesbian and she lives with a x-con meth junky creature that if I posted a pic would harm your computer. However the guy she cheated on me with has a girlfriend she is also one of my wifes best friends/lover......is now living with me... my wife cannot deal that my life has completely flourished since I left her....no matter how much money I made while we were together we were always broke could barley able to pay bills have fun...ect..ect because of her idiotic way of living life....I get about 25 calls a week from her and about 80% of these calls she is screaming at me, most of the time there is no reason for it. To the point that I have shied away from relationships because I feel she would ruin them. The girl thats living with me I consider a friend and thats as far as it goes....and she knows and has lived life with this situation

ok my point in all of this is that bi-polar sucks, there is no cure, there is only treatment that only is effective for a short time. Major studies are needed to understand this illness. I can't write how much I have suffered because of the person and illness, the burdens I have had and continue to bear. So if all the doctors want to try something new with her...by all means go right ahead, my own sanity and personal well being is at stake had has been since the first day I met her.

sorry about rambling on

[edit on 5-9-2007 by LDragonFire]

Ok, just have to throw in my 2 cents here. About 6 months ago or so I was having some emotional drama...just very stressed, couldn't get focused. Now my whole life ive always been very loud, very stubborn, get angry quickly but never had I had any type of severe mood swings. I know myself. Well, I start getting really bad headaches....so I went to the doctor...he gives me lexapro because he thinks im depressed. I take that (almost against my will) but I did it, I just wanted the headaches to stop...about a month later my boyfriend asked me to please stop taking them because I was just so mellow and I also hated it. I write and I couldn't get one single word down on paper. so I stopped.

shortly after I started getting panic attacks so my doctor sent me to a psychiatrist who said that the anti-depressant that I shouldn't have been taking was what brought on the anxiety. So I told him, I am completely against medicine..I had always had been skeptical but my earlier experience sealed it for me. So not even 20 minutes into this "evaluation" the doctor (if he can call himself that) declares me bi-polar. I was shocked. I said Sir, im sorry but don't you need to know a little more before you can say that im bi polar...ive never had any mood swings, im a rational person...and I think all these disorders are sh*t anyway. sure some people suffer, but most just want an excuse to be a dick or lay around. anyway the point of my story was that he tried to give me medicine and diagnosed me bi-polar only after 20 minutes..I said that I did not understand and do you uknow what he told me, true story "once you start your medication you will understand." don't trust them. I will forever be classified as bi-polar because of what would have been a 1 hour evaluation that I walked out of after 20 minutes. im sure one day the supposed "mental illness" will definitely work against me.

More and more we are seen how our youngsters are put on medications early in life to become the adult dependents later in life.

Yes I was one of those mothers that trusted the medical opinion and had my son addicted to Ritalin for 3 years from age 14 to 16.

I can not live a day without thinking the disservice I did to him, because it was my decision.

Now 21 my son is just like any other young man, he was miss diagnosed, later test done by reputable psychiatrist proved that.

Yes now a day people specially parents need to stop tagging their children problems to medical conditions and understand that is our own behaviour toward them that is causing most of the problems.

The future of our children is at stake.

Wow! Marg talked about taking and owning up to personal decisions. People make mistakes, but being able to correct them is a part of life.

My hats of to you, and I hope that more people are as aware as you and can see past the BS of the majority of the medical system.

I think many of us Marg were taken advantage of by the medical system and the drug companies, but that is changing for the better everyday with awareness growing and people educating themselves.

More excuses to sedate the society!
Ya, sure some of us have depression, etc., but as a whole we are becoming zombies. I have servere depression, anxiety and PTSD, but am going about treatment in other ways, besides drugs. The pill I was on, various types, took away my freedom by putting me in a "lala" land.

If the problem is soo bad, why do they persist on only medicating and not getting to the root of them?

Originally posted by dreamingawake

If the problem is soo bad, why do they persist on only medicating and not getting to the root of them?

Someone once told me the pharamceutical industry is a bigger cash cow then the oil industry. Not sure if that's true. However, I think you're alluding to the conclusion I have come to: Psychological disorders are real, but Big Pharma inc. doesn't care about fixing the problem, they want to capitalize on it and milk it.

Obviously if you could go to the roots (assuming there is one, I think there usually is) and you corrected the problem, then you would not have a need for further medication. From a business perspective it's rather obvious

It doesn't help that qualified clinical psychologists charge anywhere from like 100 to 400 bucks an hour. People can take the cheap route and go see an MD and get diagnosed in 20 mins and put on meds that very day, if the psychologist is too much initial investment. I have done both myself...

So far I wear the badge of bi-polar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and ADD. I am pretty sure I could get a new disorder everytime I visited their couch if I really wanted to. Honestly I think these disorders were completely misdiagnosed for myself, I think I have clinical depression though. Anyways, I have used plenty of their meds before. Some helped, most didn't. Some make things worse. For me personally, I think the problems do have roots, I spend alot of time with alternative remedies. Such as simple honest inner reflection.

[edit on 6-9-2007 by Cloak and Dagger]

I have mixed feelings about this subject. Part of me wants to say that the Dr's, Drug co.'s, and schools are just labeling normal energetic kids for the $$. On the other hand, my oldest has always been high strung, and several people said I needed to have him tested and tried to convince me how wonderfull the drugs were these days. I said no and took all the criticism I recieved. I looked into allergies, and found out that my sons problem was a result of an allergy to red food coloring. He is also sensitive to all other colors, but the red does him in. There are several foods (overly processed) that jack with him one way or another. So, we go as natural as we can afford.

So, where as one side of me says their just labeling for the money, the other side of me sees it as, something is causing kids/people to go insane.

I have seen kids that are unruley due to lack of _____ (fill in the blank with a politically correct word that I cant think of). They are truely a force to be reconed with. But there is another group of kids who really need help. It is truely unfortunate. They want to be good kids, and they have big hearts. Their emotions are just all over the place, and they are not able to controll their actions when their emotions are so high. Kind of like if your arm started wailing about all by itself and there was nothing you could do about it, but watch as it hit everyone around you. The pros need to concentrate just as hard on finding out what is causing this, as they do the medication they feel might help.

reply to post by Realtruth


While the octopus has many legs, the one leg that strikes me as the most serious involves vaccinations given to children in the USA. I believe what they contain whether it is mercury, or passing through themarisol during formulation, or other substances point to the USA's disastrous autism rate as well as other mental issues.

Destroying the brain chemistry of ordinary human beings makes it much easier to control them either living in the populace at large (through other drugs being given them) or putting them in prisons (where the US government can freely experiment upon them and destroy them inside and out).

I love the USA but I hate watching her being raped by folks who are the philosophical descendants of Nazism, Nazi science, and Nazi media manipulation. Who are those folks imho -- they are most usually called Republicans, Democrats, or to borrow a phrase that I believe first appeared in Modern Hebrew in the Israeli papers: neo-conservatives.