The British medical community is embroiled in a tricky debate: can children develop bipolar disorder? This is a rare mental illness known scientifically as bipolar disorder, in which sufferers oscillate between the poles of mania and depression. Untimely diagnosis can delay treatment, and overtreatment has led to fatalities. Diagnosing this disorder in children is even more difficult. The Angry Kid When first introduced to Rory, people fall in love with this 4-year-old boy. He is generous and polite, friendly and sweet, but mom Jayne and dad Dave have trouble tolerating his symptoms. As a toddler, Rory showed autistic tendencies: slapping people, spinning in place or walking on his tiptoes. He was highly focused and repeated these bizarre behaviors over and over. He became increasingly provocative, peeing and pooping all over the house. He was extremely anxious and panicky, refusing to let his mother take him to kindergarten, stiffening up and screaming. Rory’s resentment, anger and violence were particularly frightening. If his demands are not met, he picks up his cell phone, laptop or iPad and slams it; he rolls around the house screaming and spits everywhere. In a car, he would reach down and unbuckle the child’s seat belt. “One time when I was driving, he struggled out of the child seat, punched me in the face and choked me from behind.” Dad Dave recalls. Dave, a big cop, was straight-up terrified of his son’s aggression. Rory had seen a number of psychiatrists. The problem was that when he wasn’t having an episode, he “looked like an angel,” says mother Jayne, “and very few people believed us.” One psychiatrist thought Rory might have an anxiety disorder; another thought it might be a child behavior problem. Still others suspect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Jayne and Dave had their own explanation for their son’s behavior – bipolar disorder. Panicked doctors Jayne and Dave told child psychologists of their judgment, only to have these professionals panic. “They refused to even discuss bipolar disorder, thinking I was crazy and saying ‘don’t label your child.'” Jayne says. The psychological community once believed that children could not have bipolar disorder, a mental illness that first appears in mid- to late-adolescence. As late as 1995, there were only a handful of cases of bipolar disorder in adolescents. However, the American child psychologist Janet Wozniak and her mentor Joseph Wozniak were able to identify bipolar disorder. Wozniak and her mentor, Joseph K. Peterman, published a study showing that adolescents with bipolar disorder are more likely to have it. Peterman published a study showing that more children and adolescents with bipolar disorder than the medical community expected. In 1999, the American psychologist Dmitri Pappolo published the book Bipolar Disorder. The publication of “Children with Bipolar Disorder” by Mr. and Mrs. Papollo drew more public attention, which has since rewritten the treatment “map” of bipolar disorder in American children. As Rory’s condition worsened, Jayne quit her £50,000-a-year job at an accountancy firm in London to return home and focus on caring for her child. Unable to cope with the pressure, she and Dave both had to see a psychiatrist as well. As a result, Jayne was diagnosed with situational depression and suspected bipolar disorder; Dave was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which explains his sometimes active, dangerous sports, and sometimes depressed, drinking to drown his sorrows. According to a psychiatrist’s analysis, Rory may also suffer from bipolar disorder, the cause of which lies in his genes. Since there are few medical countermeasures available in the UK, Jayne had to turn to the Internet to learn about bipolar disorder in children. There are many online forums and self-regulation reading materials in the United States. Today, Rory always carries a booklet to school with three faces, one for “happy,” one for “angry” and one for “sad. “It tells the teacher if I’m happy,” Rory said, “because I get excited sometimes, too excited.” Helpless parents Jacqueline? Thomas is another parent who believes her child has bipolar disorder and is eager to get professional help. As early as when her daughter Zavia was 2 years old, Thomas noticed her bipolar tendencies: either she didn’t sleep at all, or she slept through the day. Now at school, 8-year-old Zavia oscillates between the poles of hyperactivity and trance, with even more extreme mood swings when she returns home. Thomas has sought medical help for his daughter, taking her to multiple appointments at specialized child and adolescent mental health facilities in the UK. Zavia was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but Thomas wasn’t buying it, joining forums for parents of children with bipolar disorder, buying books for self-study, and writing to more than 20 experts around the world. “I was willing to fight for it.” Thomas says. Her obsession may be due to her own experience with being misdiagnosed. Thomas herself is bipolar. She reports feeling abnormal at the age of 7, but was not diagnosed until she was 40. “If I had been diagnosed earlier, my life would have been completely different.” She said. If not diagnosed in time, people with bipolar disorder can seriously harm themselves and others. Zavia’s mother, Thomas, says she doesn’t want her child to be bipolar. “It’s not a label, it’s a diagnosis, and there’s a diagnosis before there’s a treatment,” she said, “I’m scared to death, and it’s scary: alcoholism, jail time, being locked up in a mental institution …… Who wants to see their child spend the rest of their life like that? ” Anthony? James is one of the few psychologists in the UK who treats children with bipolar disorder. He emphasizes that it is important to be cautious in diagnosing child patients. Psychologists agree that the offspring of bipolar parents are more likely to develop the disease than the general population, with a probability of between 1 and 27 percent. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the UK. NHS England has organized experts to start developing new diagnostic guidelines.