In December 1999, Demitri Papolos, M.D., and Janice Papolos published The Bipolar Child, the book that convinced Anne that her son William was bipolar. In the preface, the authors lay it on the line for us: "Many of these children were initially diagnosed as having attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity and put on stimulant medications; or they were first seen in the throes of depression with little or no consideration of the opposite pole of a mood disorder. As a result, a shocking number of children were thrown into manic and psychotic states, became paranoid and violent, and ended up in a hospital--unstable, suicidal, and in worse shape than before the treatment began...Parents need to be warned of the possibility that these drugs may wreak havoc on a possible quiescent bipolar gene."
The solution proposed by the authors is not to refrain from giving children powerful, brain-altering drugs in the first place, but to make sure they get the right drugs: "[M]ood-stabilizing drugs such as lithium, Depakote, or Tegretol should be considered as a first line of treatment--early on--before episodes become more frequent, and the illness warps the psychological development of a child and the life of a family."
