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Lovella Santos

Instructor Judith McCann

English 1302.203

23 March 2022

Bipolar Disorder in Adolescents

Bipolar disorder, often known as manic depressive sickness, is a mental health condition

characterized by mood swings and emotional highs and lows. Some of the symptoms are

difficulty sleeping, lack of touch with reality, sadness, poor motivation, loss of interest in

everyday tasks, suicidal thoughts, and many more. Bipolar disorders come in a variety of forms.

They include bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, cyclothymic/cyclothymic disorder, mixed

bipolar disorder, and rapid cycling bipolar disorder. When it comes to teenagers aged 11 and

higher, bipolar I and II disorders are recognized to be the most frequent. Researchers have shed

light on the many forms of bipolar illnesses, their impact, and the usage of antipsychotics in

teenagers.

Type I and II Bipolar Disorder in Adolescents

Type I and II bipolar disorder have different symptoms and are treated differently. Bipolar

I disorder has an effect in which at least one manic episode has happened in the person's life.

While on the other hand, a person with bipolar II disorder gets up mood swings and down mood

swings. Moreover the highs do not reach full blown energy and the lows are not so intense as .

These two types of bipolar disorders have different symptoms. Bipolar I disorder has signs which

include hallucinations, delusions of guilt, and suicidal thoughts (Duffy et.al, 2019). While on the

other hand bipolar II disorder has “higher rate of depressive episodes and more frequent suicide

attempts than BDI (bipolar disorder I)” (Karanti et.al, 2020). Although both types of disorders
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are considered to be critical. Type II bipolar disorder is to be more critical than type I bipolar

disorder since its symptoms show that it could lead to death if not treated. Having both types of

mental illnesses not only have severe symptoms but they also have effects that affect adolescents

everyday living.

The Effects of Having Bipolar Disorder

As previously stated, bipolar disorder has many symptoms that affect adolescents. Some

features that make individuals struggle throughout their everyday living. These repercussions

include the lack of sleep, depression and mood swings. As known, sleeping is very important for

adolescents since they still do not reach full maturity. On the other hand, depression affects

everyone, but others to a full on capacity that affects their daily living. As for mood swings also

referred to as rapid mood changes have major highs and lows, but as stated before the highs are

not too major and the lows are not as intense. Bipolar disorder is a critical disorder that does not

let someone live a “normal life.” As mentioned before, bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder

has many features that are to be considered critical, but both disorders have similar and different

effects which include sleep deprivation and depression. According to Cosma, “sleep disorders,

such as parasomnias, narcolepsy and sleep-related movement disorders, are associated with

depression, whereas insomnia, obstructive sleep apnoea and circadian rhythm disorders are

associated with both depression and bipolar disorder in children and young people” (1). In other

words, sleeping disorders can also alter depression. According to Zak, “mood episodes can cause

lasting neurological alteration" (526). Meaning that having mood swings can affect the functions

or nerves of the brain. Having bipolar disorder has its symptoms in which its effects affect the

person on another level. Sleeping disorder, depression, and mood swings are some of the effects

that people with bipolar disorder go through.

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Adolescents and Antipsychotics

Antipsychotics also known as neuroleptics are used to help reduce psychotic symptoms

such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations and much more. Many doctors use this medication to

control some of the bipolar symptoms while other doctors find such medication not useful at a

young age and so they recommend therapy as an alternative. But such medications can also lead

to substance abuse (drug addiction). Antipsychotics are basically relaxatives that are used to

control bipolar episodes. But in reality such medications can also lead to substance abuse. Many

adolescents who are given antipsychotics follow a strict agenda in which they have a small

dosage of the medication because many abuse the drug and overuse its content. Antipsychotic

drugs contain serotonin, dopamine, and lithium that affect the user and so therapy or peer

consultation are more recommended for adolescents with bipolar disorder (Crowley et.al, 2014).

As previously stated, antipsychotic drugs also known as neuroleptics have high dosages in which

the user has to watch how much is taken because it could lead to drug abuse which is common in

adolescents. What causes for the adolescent to have substance use is mood swings since they are

the highs and lows that affect both the mental stability of the adolescent in which causes the

individual to go after drugs to control themselves (Hulvershorn et. al, 2017). Antipsychotics are

helpful to decrease some symptoms of bipolar disorder that help out the individual.

Antipsychotics are not recommended for adolescents who have this mental illness since it can

lead them to substance abuse and so therapy or peer consultation is recommended

Conclusion

Overall, bipolar disorder treatment is expected to be more beneficial in children and

adolescents. There are several varieties, each with its own set of impacts, treatments, and

symptoms that affect adolescents and children. Nowadays, adolescents are afflicted by two types
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of bipolar disorders: bipolar I disorder and bipolar II illness. Although it is not curable, it can be

managed so that the symptoms do not worsen.

Work cited
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Comsa, Monica, et al. "The relationship between sleep and depression and bipolar disorder in

children and young people." BJPsych Open, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022. ProQuest,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2021.1076.

Crowley, Matthew J., et al. “Prioritization of Research Addressing Antipsychotics for

Adolescents and Young Adults With Bipolar Disorder.” Annals of Internal Medicine, vol.

160, no. 7, Apr. 2014, pp. 492–98. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/10.7326/M13-2549.

Duffy, Mary E., et al. “Psychotic Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in Child and Adolescent

Bipolar I Disorder.” Bipolar Disorders, vol. 21, no. 4, June 2019, pp. 342–49.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.12789.

Hulvershorn, Leslie A., et al. "Substance use disorders in adolescent and young adult relatives of

probands with bipolar disorder: What drives the increased risk?" Comprehensive

psychiatry, vol. 78, 2017, pp. 130-139. ProQuest,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.07.010

Karanti, Alina, et al. “Characteristics of Bipolar I and II Disorder: A Study of 8766 Individuals.”

Bipolar Disorders, vol. 22, no. 4, June 2020, pp. 392–400. EBSCOhost,

https://doi-org.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bdi.12867.

Zak, Nathalia, et al. “Mood Episodes Are Associated with Increased Cortical Thinning: A

Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder Type II.” Bipolar Disorders, vol. 21, no. 6, Sept.

2019, pp. 525–38. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bdi.12771.