Can it be Diagnosed?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health:
Like other mental illnesses, Bipolar Disorder cannot yet be identified physiologically - for example, through a blood test or brain scan. Bipolar Disorder is particularly difficult to recognize and diagnose in youth because it does not fit precisely the symptom criteria established for adults, and because its symptoms can resemble or co-occur with those of other common childhood-onset mental disorder. In addition, symptoms of Bipolar Disorder may be initially mistaken for normal emotions and behaviors or children and adolescents.1
To learn more about Bipolar Disorder from articles in professional journals and publications click here.
To read an informative article published in the New York Times Magazine entitled "The Bipolar Puzzle" by Jennifer Egan click here.
Through its Quest For The Test™ initiative aimed at funding research to develop an empirical, biomarker test for Bipolar Disorder, The Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation hopes that one day children and adolescents with Bipolar Disorder can be diagnosed by means of a simple clinical test so that early detection and intervention will be a reality.
