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Distinguishing Bipolar Disorder From Other Psychiatric Disorders in Children

  • Bipolar Disorders (W Coryell, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Pediatric onset bipolar disorder (BD) is a challenging diagnosis with potentially debilitating outcomes. This review aims to critically evaluate recently published literature relevant to the diagnosis of BD in youth, emphasizing interesting and important new findings characterizing pediatric BD and reporting updates in the diagnostic and statistical manual relevant to this disorder in youth. Challenges regarding the diagnosis of BD will be discussed, in addition to important distinctions with other childhood disorders, including other bipolar spectrum disorders; major depressive disorder; dysthymia; disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD); attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other disruptive behavioral disorders; anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); psychotic disorders; autism spectrum disorders; substance use disorders; and borderline personality disorder. The review concludes with a comment on past research limitations and future directions in the field.

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Conflict of Interest

Manpreet K. Singh declares no conflict of interest. Dr. Singh receives research support from Stanford Child Health Research Institute.

Kiki D. Chang receives research support from the National Institute of Mental Health and Stanford University. Dr. Chang is also an unpaid consultant for GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He is on the Data Safety Monitoring Board for Sunovion. In the past two years, he has received research support from GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5719, USA

    Manpreet K. Singh, Terence Ketter & Kiki D. Chang

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  1. Manpreet K. Singh
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  2. Terence Ketter
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  3. Kiki D. Chang
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Correspondence to Manpreet K. Singh.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Bipolar Disorders

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Singh, M.K., Ketter, T. & Chang, K.D. Distinguishing Bipolar Disorder From Other Psychiatric Disorders in Children. Curr Psychiatry Rep 16, 516 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0516-2

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