Hot Spots

Bipolar Blog

Childhood Bipolar: Who’s Funding That Study?

In “Bipolar Disorder Overdiagnosed in Children?” I expressed my concerns about the 40-fold increase in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children between 1994 and 2003 – climbing from 20,000 cases in 1994 to 800,000 cases in 2003. Based on my research and observations, I have concluded that many of these children have inaccurately received [...]

Posted on November 12, 2008 Filed Under Children, Opinions | 3 Comments

Expanding the Bipolar Spectrum – A Potentially Dangerous Game

In today’s post on the Bipolar Beat entitled “Increasing Rates of Bipolar Diagnosis: Pros and Cons,” I discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the sudden and dramatic rise in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder over the past two decades. On the plus side, the increase probably means that more people who need help are getting [...]

Posted on September 25, 2008 Filed Under Children, Diagnosis | 6 Comments

Growing Up with a Parent with Mental Illness

I grew up in a household with mental illness in a parent. The illness was never fully identified or named, yet it decimated our family life. I was enormously relieved to realize, over time, what was going on in my family when I was growing up. It helped me understand my parent more and to [...]

Posted on March 2, 2008 Filed Under Children, Relationships | 6 Comments

Should I Go or Should I Stay?

Jill Ravitz recently posted her bipolar story, which caused me to think about my own situation with my wife and our family. Back in 1999 my wife was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. Within about two years, we were discussing divorce. Bipolar disorder was tearing us and our family apart. We argued all the time, [...]

Posted on January 25, 2008 Filed Under Children, Marriage, Relationships | 39 Comments

The Tragic Tale of Rebecca Riley

On Sunday September 30, the CBS news program 60 Minutes aired a report entitled “Who Killed Rebecca Riley.” The piece explores the tragic death of four-year old Rebecca Riley due to an overdose of psychiatric medications. In the story, Katie Couric explains how Rebecca had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of three [...]

Posted on October 3, 2007 Filed Under Children, Diagnosis, Treatment, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

keep looking »