by Melinda Clayton

Created on: August 14, 2009

In recent years both the diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in children have received a great deal of study and attention, and with good reason.

Not only do ADHD and Bipolar Disorder share similar symptoms, recent evidence appears to show a link between the childhood onset of ADHD and an adult diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in later years. To complicate things even further, ADHD and Bipolar Disorder can actually coexist, meaning that the child may very well have both disorders at once.

For all of those reasons, making a definitive diagnosis can be difficult. As with ADHD, children with Bipolar Disorder exhibit mood instability,restlessness, and poor impulse control.

So how to tell the difference? There are actually several major differences. First, children with ADHD exhibit ongoing symptoms of distractibility, restlessness, and poor concentration. While these symptoms are also often present with Bipolar Disorder, it is only with ADHD that the symptoms are consistently present without interruption.

Children with Bipolar Disorder may experience extended periods of time in which no symptoms are present, or in which completely different symptoms are present. Only with ADHD is the distractibility, restlessness, and poor impulse control always apparent.

Secondly, while children with ADHD may experience intense depression, these mood swings are generally connected to something happening in the child's life. The emotions may appear more intense than those exhibited by children without such a diagnosis, but the cause of the depression is easily defined.

Once the upsetting situation is resolved, the mood returns to normal. Children with ADHD may experience multiple mood swings during a day, depending on external stimuli.

Children with Bipolar Disorder, on the other hand, may alternate between extreme excitability and extreme depression and sadness, with no apparent external cause.

For children with Bipolar Disorder, these depressive episodes can last for extended periods of time, regardless of external situations and experiences. Indeed, according to criteria set forth in the DSM-IV, for a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder to be made the mood shift must last for a period of at least two weeks.

In short, children with Bipolar Disorder may exhibit extreme excitability with restlessness, extreme depression, or no symptoms at all for extended periods of time, regardless of stimuli in the environment. Children with ADHD will always exhibit restlessness and distractibility, but mood will be determined by definable events in the environment and will change throughout the day.

It's important to seek professional assistance if any of the above symptoms are present to such an extent that daily life is affected. Having a correct diagnosis is crucial to obtaining the help needed to allow the child to live a healthy and productive life.

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