Chapter 1.

Introduction

Princeton University

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1.1 "Child Bipolar Disorder" Versus "Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder"

During the past decade, the number of children diagnosed with child bipolar disorder has increased enormously. Some clinicians think this is an appropriate trend and believe that bipolar disorder is, in fact, underdiagnosed among children. In contrast, others believe that the diagnosis should not be applied to young children, and, in fact, DSM-5 now lists a new diagnosis called “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder,” which, it says, should be applied to children rather than bipolar disorder. This video shows the case of 4-year-old whose severe rages have led to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The video also examines the controversy about applying that diagnosis to young children and then treating them with medications that have not been proven to work on children that young.

1.2 Check Your Understanding

1.3 Activity Completed!