The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder (Revised and Expanded Edition)

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Summary: Good timing for this book
Review: I am so glad that his book became available when it did -- my 13 year old son was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder in November, 1999 after a two week stay in the hospital for mania. Just a year before, he was hospitalized with ADHD and depression for a week. He was diagnosed ADHD at the age of 6. Over the years, he was very moody and had many up and down periods. The stimulants and antidepressants actually made the disorder worse. I tried to find information regarding children with bipolar in November, but could find very little. Then I found out about this book. I was very excited. This book is great! It provided very accurate information that described my son and let me know he wasn't the only one who had this. I also found the information regarding how to find a good doctor very helpful also. I feel based on that info. we have found a great doctor (after going through four). I know a couple of the reviews were negative; and I don't know if your child suffers from this disorder, but you really don't know what's it's like until you live with it. Thanks for reading.

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Summary: No longer stuggling inthe dark
Review: The Bipolar Child is like a map. I felt as if I have been wondering through a dark house trying desperately to help my son. Each chapter turned on a light in a different room. Now I can see clearer; My son, what I am fighting, where I have been and where I need to go to help him.

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Summary: The definitive guide? Unfortunately no.
Review: The ABC 20/20 segment on Bipolar Disorder prompted me to buy "The Bipolar Child" by Papolos et. al. I expected to get the definitive guide, or at least the nearly definitive guide, but I was disappointed. The first two chapters were quite good. There are descriptions of the behaviors that define a child with Bipolar Disorder. Chapter four provides an excellent review of the medications that are used to treat the disorder in children. Chapter six provides a fine review of the genetic aspects of the disorder. So what's missing? There are few practical guidelines to the parent on how to handle misbehavior and how to teach more appropriate behavior. There is little on the parent/child interactions that maintain the behavior. There are suggestions aimed at the teacher. Some are specific, "Provide a classroom seating away from distractions", "Have her sit in the front row". But again, there is little direction about what to do when the child yells, screams, knocks over tables in class. I'm not sure the suggestions given on pages 275 - 278 are enough to be effective. How should the parent and teacher provide consequences for appropriate behavior and for misbehavior? What are the best classroom management systems? Is punishment effective? How do you set up a point system that works? What is a functional analysis of behavior? This whole field of Applied Behavior Analysis is not given enough treatment dispite it's proven effectiveness with Bipolar and other children with behavior disorders. There are answers to the questions above. Parents are advised to look up the works of Marion Forgatch PhD, Gerald Paterson PhD (Parents and Adolescents), Patricia Chamberlain PhD (Success Begins in the Home) and others from the Oregon Social Learning Center.

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Summary: An interesting study
Review: The authors have done an excellent study on manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) in children. This book is very interesting and also explains that medication isn't always the right answer. There are various reasons for such disorders and the consquent behavior of children. It is also an excellent resource guide with helpful addresses, contacts incl. Websites. Every parent should have a copy of this book. Another book that I like very much on this subject, and that was so very helpful to me for understanding the pattern of manic depression, especially in chapters such as 'Identity Crisis/Self-Analysis' was Dietmar Scherf's "I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression" also available at Amazon.

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Summary: An Informative Read
Review: I bought this book on the advice of my child's physician. It helped me distinguish between ADHD and Bipolar disease. It is well written and is a handy reference guide but some areas do get wordy for the lay person.

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Summary: A FAST read
Review: I started reading in the middle of the book, jumping right to the IEP. I then jumped to the Navigating the shoals of adolescence. This book is an easy read. I can say that this book covered each issue that we are dealing with on a daily basis. I was impressed that I could read this entire (369 pages) in a couple of afternoons. We have had so many frusting days, so many questions, this book reassures us that this is normal and that there is a coping strategy to implement. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: A FAST read
Review: Not only did this book cover every aspect and issue that I have been dealing with for years, it was quick and to the point in layman's terms. Not a long winded blah blah blah book. I was able to jump right to the chapter that I wanted and get the information that I needed, skip around and found that I could read the entire book in a couple of afternoons.

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Summary: We wish we would have had this book sooner!
Review: We found this book shortly after our ten year old Daughter's Doctor diagnosed her as being Bipolar. It helped to explain a lot of questions that we had. We highly recommend this book to parents who have a child that may have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. It is also quite helpful for parents whose children may have been diagnosed as ADHD when there may be additional problems. The book gives hope that early intervention, treatment, and education can help.

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Summary: Emperor's New Clothes
Review: The author routinely makes the diagnosis of mood disorder with alarming frequency. This is a serious diagnosis and should only be given after a thorough understanding of the patient. There is no breakthrough in medical treatment here. A more unbiased view of case histories would be helpful.

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Summary: They do not know what they are talking about!
Review: These children that were portrayed as "bi-polar" suffered from severe psychotic and schizophrenic behavior. If they are also "bi-polar", it was not portrayed in the characterizations. These "physicians" may have wonderful-looking credentials, but they aren't worth beans. In addition, they have just done a grave disservice to individuals who are truly "bi-polar", and the public has been lead far astray from reality.