Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: Part I — Is it related to classical Bipolar

Littrell, Jill; Lyons, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.03.020

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 188 publications

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“…A remarkable 90.6 per cent of the children received psychiatric drugs and 47.7 per cent were prescribed antipsychotic drugs. Joseph Biederman, Thomas Spencer and Timothy Wilens from Harvard University fuelled this increase in diagnosing and drugging children while accepting funds from the pharmaceutical industry in return for promoting their products (Sarchet, ; Yu, ; also see Littrell and Lyons, ,b).…”

Section: Effects Of Bipolar Diagnosis and Antipsychotic Drugsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rights of Children and Parents In Regard to Children Receiving Psychiatric Diagnoses and Drugs

Breggin

2014

Children & Society

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Based on the author's extensive clinical, forensic and research experience, this article addresses the scientific and moral question of whether it is ever in the best interests of a child to be given a psychiatric drug. The focus is on the diagnosis Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and stimulant drugs, and on the diagnosis Bipolar Disorder and antipsychotic (neuroleptic) drugs. The conclusion is that we should work towards a prohibition against giving psychiatric drugs to children, and instead focus on safe and effective alternative ways of meeting the needs of children within their families, schools and society.

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Section: Effects Of Bipolar Diagnosis and Antipsychotic Drugsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rights of Children and Parents In Regard to Children Receiving Psychiatric Diagnoses and Drugs

Breggin

2014

Children & Society

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“…Birmaher et al found that Bipolar 12 10.6% of the children met criteria for a bipolar spectrum disorder with 68% of these children reaching criteria for bipolar-not otherwise specified. The studies examining children of parents with bipolar disorder were recently reviewed (Littrell & Lyons, 2010). The findings from the studies varied according to whether they were published prior to 1990, or they were recently published, when the concept of bipolar II became more prominent.…”

Section: Pediatric Bipolarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can a Diagnosis Be Epidemic, With Therapeutic Efforts the Catastrophe?

Littrell

2012

Ethical Hum Psychol Psychiatry

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The diagnosis of Bipolar Spectrum Disorders (BSD) given for office visits has risen 40 fold for children and has risen dramatically for adults as well. Some of the growth may have been fueled by re-categorization of individuals who would previously have received diagnoses of major depression along with the widening of diagnostic criteria for BSD. Concomitant with the rise in BSD diagnoses, the number of adults and children receiving atypical antipsychotics has increased dramatically. Recent evidence finds that atypical antipsychotics cause considerable reduction in brain volume. It is thus imperative to ensure that those with diagnoses comprising BSD-Bipolar I, Bipolar II, and Bipolar Not Otherwise specified (NOS)-actually share a common etiology and are being appropriately treated. This paper reviews the history, evidentiary support, and implications associated with the expansion of the Bipolar Spectrum. Can a Diagnosis Be Epidemic, with Therapeutic Efforts the Catastrophe?In the years from 1999 to 2003, the diagnosis of bipolar given in office visits has increased 40 fold for children. Bipolar Disorder diagnoses have increased during the same time period for adults as well rising from 4.77% of office visits to 6.28% of office visits (Moreno et al., 2007).Allen Frances (2009), the Chairperson of the DSM-IV, has suggested that the sharp rise in bipolar diagnoses is attributable to the manner in which criteria for the disorders were written-that it was an issue of taxonomy rather than epidemiology. Obviously, diagnostic criteria have profound implications for who is diagnosed, at what age, and whether they are treated with psychotropic medications. Because psychotropic medications carry substantial risks-if not guarantees-of side effects, those decisions must be judicious, and ever cognizant of Hippocrates' admonishment: First, do no harm. This review constitutes an audit of psychiatry's books, asking if they balance when the substantial risk of harm from such diagnoses and the regimen of medication they entail is taken fully into account. Creation of the Bipolar SpectrumOver the years, those behaviors categorized under the bipolar label have expanded greatly. In the DSM-II (Association, 1968), manic-depression, listed under the heading "affective psychoses", was the only bipolar type diagnosis. With subsequent editions of the DSM, new categories of affect perturbations were included in manuals. The DSM-III (Association, 1980) provided descriptions of the behaviors required to meet criteria for mixed and manic episodes. The DSM-III-R (Association, 1987) added criteria for hypomania (specified in the next paragraph). The literature recognized that some persons who had experienced an episode of depression did have periods when they were enthusiastic, energetic, and animated to the extent that they met criteria for hypomania. Kupfer, Carpenter, and Frank (1988) had argued that such individuals, who were labeled Bipolar II, should be viewed as experiencing a variant of major depression. Dunner (1993) disagr...

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“…Subsequently, Biederman and others published data on the parents of children labeled Pediatric Bipolar. They found that a high percentage of the parents also met criteria for Bipolar (see Littrell & Lyons, 2010a for a review). Unfortunately, the type of Bipolar in the parents was not distinguished during the analysis.…”

Section: How the Change In Diagnostics Created An Epidemicmentioning

confidence: 99%