Bipolar disorder is especially difficult to diagnose in teens, because it is hard to tell if your teenage is not acting out the life of a typical teenager. During the teenage years, a person is trying to differentiate themselves from parents and other family members. Also, It is important to them to gain social recognition from their peers, so they are under enormous peer pressure. They are often exploring a world of new experiences, experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and sex. Their hormones are raging; they see authority figures as stifling to their creativity and activities, often rebelling.
The criteria use for diagnosing teens and children do not coincide with all the criteria of adult bipolar onset. If your teenage has bipolar, and it is not being addressed, you may be putting them at risk for suicide, drug, and alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, and failure in school and extra curricular activities. If there is a family history of bipolar disorder, a history or alcohol and drug abuse, a history of abuse, your teenager may very well be bipolar. Often teenagers have what is known as rapid cycling bipolar disorder, where the manic and depressive cycles alternate during the course of the day.
In children and teenagers especially around the time of puberty, bipolar may coexist with ADHD, Conduct Disorder, Drug Abuse, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, or Autism Spectrum DisordersBe especially wary if your teenage talks about death often or suicide. Seek immediate help.