A Hitchhikers Guide to Guidelines: Diagnosing Juvenile Bipolar Disorder

Background and aims: To compare currently available guidelines for the diagnosis and clinical presentation of Juvenile Bipolar Disorder. Method: Psychiatric, medical and psychological databases were searched with the terms 'juvenile bipolar disorder', 'paediatric bipolar disorder' 'diagnosis' and 'guidelines'. Results: Although there are a range of guidelines for adult bipolar disorder four were found relating to juvenile forms of bipolar. These were issued by; The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (UK), The National Institute of Mental Health (USA), The Child Psychiatric Workshop (USA) and a practice parameter issued by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. There were differences in the recommendations made by each regarding the diagnosis and symptomatic presentation of juvenile bipolar disorder. Conclusions: Although the diagnosis of Juvenile Bipolar Disorder is gaining increased recognition its definition remains controversial. We recommend clinicians and researchers incorporate the strongest features of each of the guidelines we reviewed.