ADHDFamilies

by Charles Popper, M.D.
Similarities:
Both disorders share many characteristics: impulsivity, inattention, hyperactivity, physical energy, behavioral and emotional lability (behavior and emotions change frequently), frequent coexistence of conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant disorder, and learning problems. Motor restlessness during sleep may be seen in both (children who are bipolar are physically restless at night when “high or manic,” though they may have little physical motion during sleep when “low or depressed”). Family histories in both conditions often include mood disorder. Psychostimulants or antidepressants can help in both disorders (that is, depending on the phase of the bipolar disorder). In view of the…

The teacher must understand that our primarily goal is keeping ________ alive. Education is secondary! Education is extremely important to our family and we will make whatever sacrifices are necessary to insure that _______ receives an excellent education, but our primary concern is to help him want to live.The teacher must be involved in preparing an IEP for _________ and must adhere to it.

The teacher must be willing to take an occasional phone call at home. We never know when a possible crisis may develop. It is important that contact be made in order to prepare the teacher for…

Description and Suggested Academic Interventions
by Quackenbush, Kutcher, et al.
School Program Modifications
A variety of useful school program modifications can be implemented to meet the needs of the adolescent bipolar patient. The development of these programs requires active collaboration between the clinician and the school setting. This requires identifying the teen’s disorder to the appropriate educator-a process, which requires patient or parent (caregiver) consent, and which can, at times, be resisted by the adolescent or parents because of concerns regarding social stigmatization. Clinical experience indicates that a supportive, educational approach, which aims at helping the adolescent and family to…

by Mary Beth CoganSince 1980, criteria for diagnosing bipolar disorder in adults have also been used to diagnose mania in children, with some modifications to adjust for age. Similarly, to diagnose a child or adolescent with bipolar disorder, there need be at least one period of mania that is manifested by a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood, lasting at least one week or any duration if hospitalization is required. In addition, during the period of mood disturbance the children or adolescents may experience to a significant degree at least three of the following symptoms…

National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association
730 N. Franklin, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: 800/82 -NDMDA. (800/826-3632)
www.ndmad.org

The National Foundation for Depressive Illness, Inc.
Post Office Box 2257, New York, NY 10116-2257
Phone: 800-245-4306, 800/248-4344
Toll-free hotline which plays a recorded announcement about symptoms and treatment

The Depressive and Related Affective Disorders Association
Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205
Email - drada@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
Website: http://www.med.jhu.edu/drada/
Fax - 410/614-3241.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
200 N. Glebe Road; Suite 1015, Arlington, VA 2203-3754
Office: 703/524-7600
NAMI Helpline: 800/950-6264
TDD 703/516-7991
Fax: 703/524-9094
WWW - http:www.nami.org

National Institute of Mental Health…

Using lively, animated computer games and challenging drills, researchers have pioneered a therapy, dubbed “aerobics for the brain,” to help millions of children who slip years behind their peers in language development. .Two studies reported Friday in Science magazine centered on healthy children with normal intelligence who had language-based learning disabilities. One month of intensive therapy essentially “retrained their brains” and improved their language comprehension dramatically, researchers said.

A 7 -year-old child who at the outset ofthe study had the language comprehension of a 4-year-old, progressed to the level of a 6-year-old after training, said Paula Tallal, professor of neuroscience…

What is Bipolar?
What does it look like in a person?
What are the different states?
Information is provided in both layman terms and also DSM-IV.Here is a fairly complete list of symptoms of depression that bipolars have described: Reduced interest in activities

• Indecisiveness
• Feeling sad, unhappy, or blue (pervasive attitude that life sucks)
• Irritability
• Getting too much (hypersomnia) or too little (insomnia) sleep
• Loss of concentration
• Increased or decreased appetite
• Loss of self-esteem, such as one’s belief that they suck
• Decreased sexual desire (probably not really prevalent in junior high kids)
• Problems with memory
• Despair and hopelessness
• Suicidal thoughts
• Reduced pleasurable feelings
• Guilt feelings
• Crying uncontrollably and/or for no apparent reason
• Feeling helpless
• Restlessness,…

What is early-onset bipolar disorder and why are we suddenly hearing so much about it?
Early-onset bipolar disorder is manic-depression that appears early–very early–in life. For many years it was assumed that children could not suffer the mood swings of mania or depression, but researchers are now reporting that bipolar disorder (or early temperamental features of it) can occur in very young children, and that it is much more common that previously thought.

Is bipolar disorder in children the same thing as bipolar disorder in adults?
Adults seem to experience abnormally intense moods for weeks or months at a time, but children…