Bipolar in Adolescence Child Development - Bipolar in Adolescence

The early years of the life of a child is full of development and learning, which plays an integral role in building and shaping the entire personality, characteristics and the health cycle. In other words, the life from birth to adolescence period is the developmental phase of life in which parents, educators and even peers are significant that can help and nurture the child in its growth to reach their full potential (Meggitt, 2006).

This evidently signifies that a child undergoes biological, psychological, cognitive, social and emotional changes in his life that begins from the time of his/her birth and continues until the child reaches his/her adolescence stage. The phase from birth till adolescence is vital due to the reason that it is the key phase of a child's life in which he/she steps forward from dependence to increasing independence (Meggitt, 2006).

The inherent or genetic elements as well as the parental development are the key factors that robustly influence the developmental changes within the child. In fact, it has also come to notice that developmental changes that a child experience are also attributable to the environmental factors and the learning process wherein the interaction is a substantial element. This is particularly due to the reason that the ability to adapt and learn from the surrounding is an inborn aspect of human nature, thus child development is profoundly affected by the competence of learning. Therefore, child development is another term for finding the identity of own (Meggitt, 2006).

The growth of the child is noticeable from the time schooling starts, and this is the time when parents realize that their child is no more an infant, as they are growing. However, the child development is the most unpredictable aspect, which means that every child has a different growth and maturity rate. This indicates that gargantuan differences in weight, height and build of the child is found, which is usually based on their diet, genes and exercise (Meggitt, 2006).

A child when enters his/her adolescence period grows and matures at a very rapid speed, which makes them more autonomous especially from their parents. This also denotes that the child in his adolescence stage tend to be more with their friends of particularly the same gender. At this stage, the peer and their approval becomes the vital aspect for the adolescent. Due to the significance of peers in the teenage years, the child may try new behaviors and may become involve in certain groups. This is an alarming situation for the parents to realize that their young child is suffering from behavioral problems or psychological disorders. If these problems are not recognized and corrected, it can get worse over time (Meggitt, 2006).

Bipolar is one of the disorders that have been commonly found amongst the youngsters that cause mood swings with ups and downs to extreme level, which is usually defined in terms of mania and depression. Young kids who are suffering from this disorder frequently exhibit epigrammatic, intense and powerful outbursts, irritating nature or extreme happiness at many occasions during the day. This means that they are full of energy and are very vibrant or active; nevertheless, the feeling of depression or sadness develops when they feel low (Evans & Andrews, 2005).

The disorder of bipolar is found amongst young children, as well as adults, however, recent studies have evidently and noticeably brought the fact to the forefront that the symptoms of bipolar found in teens are quite different from those in adults. The exact and literal cause for this order is still in uncertain by the experts, nonetheless, on a broad spectrum, the family inheritance and genes are found as common grounds for this disorder. If a close family member (such as parent, grandparent or sibling) is found to suffer from bipolar disorder, the child is more susceptible to undergo from the same disorder (Evans & Andrews, 2005).

Cycles of mania (sometimes hypomania) and depression...

The severity of the symptoms of mania and depression are the primary elements that determine the different types of the disorder of bipolar. The rapid mood swings from one extreme to another with no particular reason typically leads to bipolar disorder amongst the teens. Besides, the symptoms define that continuous change between emotions related to mania and depression has been witnessed amongst the young children several times in the same day. In fact, it has also been observed that few of the children suffering from bipolar temporarily come back to their normal moods during the phase of experiencing extreme mood changes (Miklowitz & George, 2007).
Records have also exposed the observation that adolescents at few instances have been found to exhibit symptoms of both mania and depression simultaneously. While going through the phase of mania in bipolar the teens usually feels annoyed, irritated and have violent or extreme bad tampers. While in other cases during the time of mania, the teens have exhibited extreme happiness with high energy levels. The young individuals have disruption in their sleep patterns, and they tend to have very less sleep. They can go on chatting at a very fast pace in which they keep on changing the topics very promptly, due to which they easily get distracted with other things. The manic symptoms also expose that sexual thoughts, feelings, activities and utilization of sexual language is escalated amongst the adolescence (Miklowitz & George, 2007).

On the other side of the coin, when the teens are in the duration of depression mode, they usually are bored and represent the sad mood. Moreover, the headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, restlessness and tiredness (with relatively very low energy level) are the most universal and general warning signs found in the teens. As the adolescent is in a state of depression, they typically feels isolated and rejected, due to which they often spend time alone. Significant variations in the amount of food consumptions have also been witnessed, which eventually hampers the body weights (gains as well as loss of weight) of the teens. In addition, the symptoms of depression in bipolar disorder also elucidate that teens usually have trouble with their sleep intervals (Miklowitz & George, 2007).

From the records, it has also come to notice that the cycling order of bipolar disorder amongst the young individuals tends to be mixed as well as rapid. In rapid cycling, the adolescent feels rapid shifts or transfers between the feeling of mania and depression. Indeed, this transfer of extreme mood shifts at times occurs within the same day. Frequently, these mood swings are continuous, which hardly allows the teens to come back to their normal moods while encountering the extremes. While on the other hand, the mixed cycling reveals that the teens in this mode suffers from both mania and depression simultaneously (Miklowitz & George, 2007).

Bipolar disorder is occasionally associated and confused with other disorders that usually share few of the common and prevailing symptoms amongst the children such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This makes it difficult to diagnose the bipolar disorder as it often transpires with these psychological disorders (Miklowitz & George, 2007).

The sever mood changes (such as depression, unhappiness and so forth) are the preliminary indications that are later diagnosed with the disorder. However, it leaves intense and far-reaching impacts on the teens in various ways. The teens with bipolar (experiencing manic behaviors) may result in temporary expulsion from school, get more involved in brutal fights, drug and alcohol abuse, escaping from homes, unwanted pregnancy and so on (Geller & DelBello, 2008).

From the other side, when the teens are subject to depressive episodes of bipolar, they tend to have lower performance in academics and score lower or poor grades, because they lack in their concentration levels. Besides, it has also been monitored that…