Symptoms of Child-Onset Bipolar Disorder

Manic depression, or bipolar disorder, seems to run in the family. My best friend's mother has it, and my best friend himself has recently been diagnosed with it. Though he only officially found out within the past year or so, having lived around him most of my life, I felt as if I've known he had it all along. My education in psychology only proved to confirm my suspicions, as we learned the classic signs of childhood-onset bipolar disorder.

I first noticed that my friend was rarely "himself" around the age of ten or so. He'd always been "difficult", as his teachers would say, but I got along with him relatively well. In fact, we were best buds for a long time. However, he began to get into these periods of heightened self esteem, where he would be acting like the king of the court, but would treat others, myself included, with carelessness. Having always been a talker of some sorts, I didn't notice a drastic increase in the amount that he talked, but there was a shift in content-most of what he said was centered around himself, around these new big ideas that seemed to consume him. At first, I went along, wanting to encourage these bursts of what sounded like creative insight, but sometimes I wasn't so sure what he was talking about. Plus, he was always up, and I wanted to get some sleep, and I couldn't believe how much energy he had sometimes.

Then he get edgy, his character would change, everything wasn't all right by him. His king of the court persona turned callous and even cruel at times, and I recall having to be extra careful around him, for he always seemed like he would blow.

Then, one day, he would blow. He would scream at me in public, verbally attack me at school-I couldn't stand him, couldn't believe what was happening to him. I, of course, refused to talk to him during these times, and would avoid him for weeks.

Inevitably, I'd run into him, and somehow I'd catch him at his lowest moments. His hair would be oily, his skin really pale for some reason, I remember thinking, gosh, he doesn't look like himself. He would talk really slowly, really heavily, as if he'd run out of all steam. I once told him, "You probably wore yourself out with all your hyperness."

He began to steal in his teens, and though he got caught several times and severely reprimanded, he continued doing so, as if he couldn't help it. He seemed to really get a high off of that. If it wasn't stealing, it was drinking; if it wasn't drinking, it was chain-smoking. He was always involved in some sort of extreme activity to get his blood running.

He later got addicted to prescription pills, and even tried to overdose on them several times. His behavior became more and more erratic; we drifted apart-I went to college and tried to forget him.

Had his symptoms been accurately recognized long ago, perhaps his bouts of stealing and excessive behaviors could have been curtailed. I encourage all parents to become educated in basic child psychology and to pick up on telltale signs of abnormality. This way, constructive steps can be taken early on to help the individual.